


Cathleen McGinley: Take a Stand (Book 1)

by WhatWouldJackSparrowDo



Series: Cathleen McGinley [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Insecurity, Pranks, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-04-03 18:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 64,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4111291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatWouldJackSparrowDo/pseuds/WhatWouldJackSparrowDo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In one universe, Quentin Pinnix dies at age eleven, and never impacts the Second Wizarding War at all. In another universe, he lives, and through a series of obscure chance events, the world is forever changed.</p><p>Meet Cathleen McGinley. She's just your average eleven-year-old girl, except for the part where she's homeschooled, bullied by her own twin brother, and - wait - a WITCH? Now she must find her worth at Hogwarts while fighting off obnoxious purebloods, mountain trolls, and the many demons of her past, some of them less metaphorical than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your Hand in My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Before I get into the story, I thought I'd clarify a few things. I'm planning on writing a full seven years, and I might update anywhere from once every two weeks to thrice in one week, but you can probably trust that it won't be any less frequent than that. For the most part, pairings are already decided. If you have a question about what's going to happen in the story and you really want to know, I have no problem with telling you ahead of time, but please don't give anyone else spoilers. Every chapter has a theme song and is named after a lyric from that theme song. If you think you know a song that would better suit the chapter, I would appreciate you reviewing with the song and with or without your recommendation for a lyric to use. If listening to the song isn't too inconvenient, I would listen to it either while reading, or if you can't do that, then listen to it before reading. I think it improves the experience. The story's overall theme song is Glow in the Dark by Skylar Grey (that's where the title came from).
> 
> As far as reviews are concerned, I'm actually not going to push you to review. Feel free, but don't feel pressured to. I would recommend you review if a) you want to help improve the story, b) you want to know something about the story, or c) you have a request (ex. You want to see a chapter from a certain POV, or you want to see what would happen if _). I do have a policy where if you review my story, I return the favor. I'm not expecting to get a lot of reviews, so that should be easy enough, but if I do end up getting a lot of reviews I can't absolutely guarantee that I'll be able to review back, though I'll certainly try my best.
> 
> One last thing; I try my best to adhere to all canon information, but if it conflicts with my storyline, there are some things I might not follow. For instance, if two people got together but were never mentioned in-story as a couple and I don't agree with the pairing, I'll put them with different people or no one at all. If so-and-so's mother is never mentioned in the series and I name so-and-so's mother whatsername, and the name whatsername has some sort of importance in the story, and then JKR mentions that so-and-so's mother was actually named whatserface, I'm still keeping the name whatsername. The only things I make absolutely certain that I keep the same are things mentioned within the Harry Potter series.
> 
> I do not own Harry Potter, Glow in the Dark by Skylar Grey, or Skyfall by Adele. No real locations were referenced in this story. Now, on with the first chapter! Sorry, this one's pretty short. The others are much longer. This one is actually more of a prologue than a first chapter; it's not about the main characters at all, it's just background information that will come in handy later and a hint as to some twists coming up. You can expect all of my first chapters to be one or both of those things.

Date: Thursday, 15 July, 19?  
Theme Song: Skyfall by Adele

 

"Master Silas, Mistress Lavinia, there is no letters being delivered from Salem Wizards' Institute today," Layla the house-elf announced timidly.

Silas scowled darkly as Lavinia frowned in distress. "What shall we do, darling?" Lavinia asked worriedly. "Will we hide the boy? It simply wouldn't do for us to have produced a – a – a Squib, after all."

"Of course not, you foolish woman," Silas snapped. "As far as the rest of the world shall ever know, our son is as magical as any other. No, the problem is not whether or not to hide him, the problem is how to do so."

"Just keep him in the cellar," Lavinia suggested. "Guests do not go to the cellar, especially not in Pureblood society. It would be such a horrendous breach of privacy."

Silas sighed, massaging his temples. "Lavinia, this is not so simple. We cannot risk our standing based on our assumption that all guests will have good manners. No, we must rid ourselves of this embarrassment living in our home."

Lavinia hesitated. "What… What do you mean, rid ourselves of it? I mean, I suppose I could drop him off at some Muggle orphanage and wipe his memories, nobody would be any the wiser. First we should fake his death, so that no one will ask questions."

"But what if one of our acquaintances happened upon him?" Silas pointed out.

"Really, darling, what are the odds of a member of Pureblood society visiting a Muggle orphanage and recognizing our son there?" Lavinia laughed.

"Lavinia, we must leave nothing up to chance!" Silas insisted, his voice rising in his agitation. He left his seat and began pacing. "No, we must make it impossible for anyone to ever see that boy again. We must actually kill him."

Lavinia stared at her husband, wide-eyed. "But – But darling, surely that's a tad extreme –"

Silas stopped in his tracks and faced her. "Are you questioning me?"

Lavinia quavered under his fierce glare. "I… No, no, of course not."

Silas continued his pacing, satisfied with her response. "We must be very careful about this, Lavinia. It must look like an accident."

"Of course," Lavinia agreed sadly, still reluctant to go along with the plans he was making. "Couldn't have anyone thinking we'd killed our own son."

"Exactly, because if they did, they would all wonder why we'd killed him, and what we had to hide, and the answer would be only too obvious." Silas nodded solemnly. "Now, how could we go about making a homicide look like an accident…?"

"We could simply fake his suicide," Lavinia suggested.

"Don't be stupid, Lavinia, why would any boy living such an easy life kill themselves?" Silas retorted.

"Master Silas, can – can Layla be recommending something?" Layla offered hopefully. She had no personal vendetta against the child, but he would be dying anyway, and she might as well get some brownie points out of it.

Silas waved his hand. "Oh, why not. It can't hurt. Let's hear what you have to say."

"You see, Master Silas, Layla is knowing of a poison that is not having a cure…."

 

Two and a half weeks later, eleven-year-old Quentin was excitedly reading through all the books his parents had gotten him to prepare for Salem. "I still can't believe I'm actually a wizard," he stated for the hundredth time that day alone, beaming up at his mother.

She smiled, although she seemed sad for some reason. "I know, dear. I know." She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"I wish you were coming to the Salem Witches' Institute with me," his friend Silvana Brinson declared. "I mean, Clodia and Krizia will be coming too, but they're so mean to everyone. It would be much better hanging out with you all the time."

"Don't say that about Clodia and Krizia," her mother Donnica scolded. "They are not mean, they are simply proper Pureblood ladies. Honestly, child, I wish you could be more like them sometimes."

"Yeah, yeah." Silvana rolled her eyes, very familiar with the direction the conversation was headed. "Come on, Quentin, let's play Exploding Snap!"

Lavinia watched the two for a long while as they played their game. Then she took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and said, "Oh, Quentin, I think there's something wrong with your pet snake."

"What?" Quentin leapt from his seat, the book falling from his lap with a thud. "There's something wrong with Minga? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He raced out of the room and up the staircase towards his bedroom.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Silas was discussing something with Silvana's father, Alta. "Silvana had a most unpleasant experience in Appell Apparel yesterday afternoon," he announced. "There was this Mudblood girl in the store with her – once she realized how well-educated Silvana was in the customs of the Wizarding World, she began pestering her non-stop."

"Poor dear," Silas commented sympathetically. "Brushing elbows with something so filthy – thank goodness nothing like that has ever happened to Quentin."

"And then, if you'll believe it," Alta continued, "that same Mudblood practically stalked Silvana throughout Lowing Lane, followed her into every shop and continued asking questions."

"Why, the nerve of her!" Silas exclaimed. "Did you happen to get the mutt's name? Quentin ought to be warned that such a menace is at his school."

"I do believe I heard her introduce herself as Virginia Norwood," Alta mused.

"Well, it's a big school, so keeping away from – "

"Father!" Quentin stumbled into the kitchen, Lavinia following behind him. "Minga, she – she bit me!"

Alarmed, Silas rushed forward, kneeling down and holding his son up. "What? Why?" he demanded.

"I don't know, but – I – I can't see very well, and I have this headache – " Quentin broke off, clutching his forehead with a moan.

Alta leapt to his feet and dashed towards the Floo. "I'll call General Womlers immediately," he shouted behind him.

Silvana was trembling behind Quentin and Lavinia. "Mother, will he be okay?" she whimpered.

"Oh, sweetie," Donnica whispered as she held her daughter closer. "I don't – I'm sorry, sweetie, but I just don't know…."

"Alta, stop," Silas called hoarsely as Quentin collapsed in his arms. "It's… Alta, he's g-gone."

Alta froze, horrified, and walked back to the kitchen as Silvana dissolved into wails of agony. "Gone? You mean…"

"He's dead," Silas confirmed in a hollow voice.

Shaking, Lavinia gathered her son in her arms. "I want to bury him," she whispered. "Now."

"What do you mean, now?" Silas frowned, confused.

"I want to bury my son," Lavinia growled. "And I want to bury him now. Leave me." She stormed out of the kitchen. They all exchanged glances, but none could find it in themselves to object.

Quickly, Lavinia rushed outside with her son and cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on the area. She whipped a vial out of her robes and poured the contents down Quentin's throat without hesitation. Seconds later, he came to. "Mom? Mom, what happened?"

"Your father tried to kill you," she stated urgently.

"What?" He leapt to his feet. "Kill me? Why?"

"You're not a wizard, Quentin, you're a Squib. The letters from Salem were fake. Your father cast the Imperius curse on someone to make them order Basilisk venom. Then he put it on Minga's teeth and cast a timed spell that would irritate her to the point of biting you. I had to send you upstairs, because if I didn't he would kill me and then just kill you anyway, and then I wouldn't be here to save you."

"But how did you save me?" Quentin asked. "Basilisk venom is fatal, and has no cure."

"My ancestors developed their own cure for it," Lavinia explained. "Here, the recipe – I intended to pass it on to you on your seventeenth birthday, as is tradition, but that cannot happen now." She handed over the recipe.

"But what is to happen now, Mom?" Quentin accepted the recipe with wide, worried eyes. "What's going to happen to me if I'm supposed to be dead? What's going to happen to you now that you've saved me?"

"As far as anyone knows, I took you out here to bury you. I will be fine. You – " Lavinia hesitated, frowning at him, then pressed onwards. "I am going to Apparate you to a Muggle orphanage and leave you there." She kneeled down and hugged her miserable son. "I am so, so sorry, Quentin, but there's nothing else that can be done."

"I understand, Mom," Quentin muttered sadly.

Teary-eyed, Lavinia rose and clutched her son's arm. "Remember, Quentin, no one can ever know who you really are," she warned. "You need a new name – and actually – " Waving her wand, Lavinia transformed Quentin's dark brown hair into something lighter, then transfigured his robes into Muggle clothing. After a bit of consideration, she darkened his skin tone a tad and turned his brown eyes into a shade resembling her favorite gemstone, a smoky quartz. "There," she whispered hoarsely, her eyes beginning to burn. "So you'll remember me when you see your reflection. Now, dear, I am going to Stupefy you and leave you in an alley. When you wake up, you must pretend you remember nothing – nothing, okay?"

"Okay," Quentin agreed softly.

"Good." Her eyes beginning to burn, Lavinia held on tightly to Quentin's arm and Apparated them to the alley next to the local orphanage in Verityview, New Jersey. "Stupefy," she said, pointing her wand at him. He fell backwards. Tears sliding down her cheeks, Lavinia fell to her knees beside him and pressed one last kiss on his forehead. Then she Apparated home.

"Lavinia!" Silas snarled as his wife popped into existence beside him, in the yard where she was supposed to be burying their dead, worthless offspring. "Where were you just now? Where is Quentin?"

She looked him in the eye and spat defiantly, "Somewhere you will never find him."

"You fool! He's dying anyway!" Silas felt relieved that the Brinson family had already left. "You just gave your life to save someone who can't be saved!"

"So you think." She had the nerve to smirk at him. He hoped it was worth the consequences. She would die with that insufferable smirk on her face.

"You worthless little…." Silas growled, whipping out his wand. Then he pointed it at her and snarled, "Avada Kedavra!"

The world would surely mourn for the death of Lavinia Pinnix, who committed suicide after the death of her son, Quentin Pinnix, the last heir to his mother's line.


	2. Where Your Book Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious professor comes to visit the McGinley household with some very interesting news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the real first chapter. I know the title's EXTREMELY corny and sort of cheating, but I couldn't find better lyrics in the song that wouldn't be too long to be a chapter title. Warning: minor cursing. I do not own Harry Potter, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, Monopoly, or any Nintendo products. Minor cursing.

Date: Monday, 15 July, 1991  
Theme Song: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

 

"Hey, you two, a little help would be nice," Tierney O'Rourk huffed as he dragged a bed out of a bedroom.

"Hell if I'm helping," Cadence McGinley scoffed off-handedly as he headed to the kitchen. "That's Cathie's bed, make her do it."

Tierney sent a scowl at the boy's retreating back and a shout of, "She can stay in your room if you like!"

"I'm coming," Cathleen McGinley announced, getting up from her board game to go help her older cousin move her bed. "Kaylyn, I swear to God, if you steal my money again, I'm not playing Monopoly with you anymore."

"As if," Kaylyn Garth retorted as she followed Cathie. "You know you can't resist a game of Monopoly. Anyway, seeing as you're a man down, I might as well help, seeing as I've nothing better to do while you're occupied."

"A man down?" Tierney raised his eyebrow as all three of them successfully lifted the bed and started moving it slowly. "You call that a man down? I call that one whiny brat down."

Together, Tierney, Cathie and Kaylyn finally managed to get the bed inside a room that had previously been dubbed the dining room. "Remind me why Aunt Leanne thinks it's more important for her twins to have separate rooms than it is to have a place where people can eat?" Tierney asked sarcastically.

"Oh, please, like they ever actually eat here," Kaylyn pointed out. "Whenever I'm over, they always eat in the living room while watching something on TV."

"I suppose they do whenever I'm over as well," Tierney admitted.

"When are you not over?" Cathie retorted. "Whenever you're over is whenever we actually eat here – and whenever we eat out, too, really."

"You make it sound like I live here."

"Tierney, when I first met Cathie, I thought you did live here," Kaylyn laughed. "And then you left before dinner one night and I said, 'Oh, is he going to a friend's house tonight?' and everyone gave me weird looks."

Tierney shrugged, accepting defeat. "What can I say? My family sucks. I'd rather live here if I could."

"Oh, don't say that." Cathie shook her head. "At least your family hasn't got a Cadence."

"Or an Elliott," Kaylyn added, reminding them of her older brother. Cathie scowled briefly at the mention of him.

"But why is Ms. McGinley giving you your own room all of a sudden, anyway?" Kaylyn asked.

"First of all, Kaylyn, Mom's told you time and time again, just call her Leanne, or at least Aunt Leanne," Cathie told her friend. "Just like I call your parents Aunt Ginny and Uncle Carl. And second, I guess now that Cadence and I are entering middle school age, we get our own rooms. Which is ridiculous, because middle school is nothing to brag about, and we're homeschooled anyway."

"Hey, are you two gonna stand there gossiping all day or help me with the rest of the stuff?" Tierney complained as he lugged a dresser out of the room. The two girls ran to help them, but before they could, a knock at the door interrupted them.

"I'll get it!" Kaylyn offered immediately.

"That's okay, I'll do it!" Cathie disagreed, racing Kaylyn to the door.

Tierney rolled his eyes and plopped onto the bed. "If you two are taking a break, so am I."

Cathie reached the door first and opened it to find a very, very short man. "Um." She eyed him uncertainly. "Can I help you?"

He eyed her thoughtfully. "Is Leanne McGinley home?" he inquired with a British accent.

"Yeah," Kaylyn responded, having joined them.

"Excellent, excellent – may I speak with her?"

"Sure." Kaylyn shrugged. "Just wait right here." She ran inside to fetch Leanne, leaving Cathie alone with the unfamiliar man.

"I don't suppose you might be Cathleen McGinley?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I am." Cathie wondered how he knew her name.

"Ah, excellent, excellent," he repeated. "Do you get good grades in school, Miss McGinley?"

Feeling thoroughly unnerved by the conversation, but seeing no harm in answering, Cathie corrected, "Actually, I don't go to school. I'm homeschooled, Mister…?"

"Please, call me Professor Flitwick," he urged.

Cathie blinked, surprised and even more confused. "As I was saying, I'm homeschooled, Professor Flitwick."

"Very interesting, Miss McGinley. I've come across very few homeschooled children in my days."

"Well, I imagine you would, being a teacher and all," Cathie commented. "Homeschooled children don't tend to go to school. Where do you teach, anyway?"

Before he could give her an answer, her mother appeared by her side. "Hello," she greeted Professor Flitwick. "Do come in – ah, Cathie, Kaylyn, could you excuse us for a moment?"

Bewildered, Cathie and Kaylyn went to join Tierney in the study at the back of the house, where Cathie's older sister, Danica McGinley, was painting in a corner of the study that had been separated subtly from the rest of the room. "What are you painting now, Danny?" Kaylyn called cheerfully.

Danica groaned. "Oh, God, not more of you," she grumbled. "Can't a girl paint in peace?"

"Not in this house," Cathie announced cheerfully.

"Wow, are we having some sort of party in here?" Cadence asked as he entered.

"No, it's just that some Professor guy just arrived and now Ms. McGinley's shooing us all out of the library," Kaylyn informed him.

Cadence raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. He pulled a book off the shelf and sat down in a seat next to Danica's painting

The study was basically a family library with certain sections belonging to certain individuals. Leanne, Danica, Cadence and Cathie all had their own sections of the library, filled with their own books. Leanne had offered Tierney his own area, but he had declined, since he didn't read much and when he did read, it was around the time he went to bed, at which point he would be in his own room, in his own house. There was also an area filled with Danica, Cadence and Cathie's textbooks and workbooks, and addition to her books, Danica's area had an easel and other art supplies in it. Whenever Danica was painting, she would cover the walls and floor surrounding her in tarp so that it wouldn't be damaged.

Cathie's family was pretty well off as far as money was concerned. For as long as Cathie could remember, they had been some of the poorest people in Springcreek, New Jersey. After all, there weren't a lot of homeless people in a town so wealthy. But then they got a lucky break – Leanne had been working on a computer programming business for so long, and had run into an old classmate who had become pretty successful and had offered to help. Soon enough, they had enough money to get themselves a nice apartment in the nearby town, Joyce Valley, where Tierney and his family lived. Honestly, it had been more of a relief than anything to move; Cathie and Cadence had been bullied by most of the kids there, since they walked around in rags, and didn't get to shower.

Leanne's computer programming company really took off after a few months, and nowadays made millions every year. A good portion of the money went to charity every year, but some of it also went to making up for all the things they'd never had, such as a real house, rather than an apartment. Now every member of the family had their own laptop, and the kids had a GameBoy apiece as well as a shared SNES. "Cathie? Cathie!" Cathie blinked, hearing her name called. Kaylyn was waving a hand in front of Cathie's face, giving her an amused look. "Come on, Earth to Cathie."

"Huh? Sorry, I was distracted," Cathie apologized.

Kaylyn rolled her eyes. "Like always. Anyway, your mom's calling you and Cadence. They're already out there."

Cathie nodded and dashed out of the study and down the hall past all the bedrooms, skidding to a halt in the living room. Professor Flitwick was standing, smiling, and her mother was positively beaming. Cadence was sitting next to Leanne, looking bemused. Imagining that she probably looked pretty bemused as well, Cathie sat down on her mother's other side and gave her attention to Professor Flitwick, who had the air of someone about to say something of great importance.

"Miss McGinley, Mister McGinley," Professor Flitwick began, "There is something you two ought to know. You are a witch and a wizard."

They stared at him. Cadence appeared thoroughly disgruntled, as if wondering what this madman was doing in their house. Their mother was watching them carefully, clearly waiting for some sort of reaction. Cathie had the urge to laugh, but instead opted for playing along. "Cool," she commented. "Does that mean I can set things on fire without matches now? Because let me tell you, I suck at using matches."

Her mother sighed and shook her head as she often did when exasperated. Cadence smirked slightly, then scowled, probably displeased that she had said something funny when he had failed too. Professor Flitwick chuckled, positively beaming at her now. "As a matter of fact, you'll be learning how to do that in your first year, probably within the first few weeks if your class is particularly smart."

"First year? Class?" Cathie feigned curiosity. "Are we going to some sort of school or something?" She laughed afterwards to imply that she thought such a thing was ridiculous.

"Why, of course!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "You have to learn how to cast spells and charms, and how to control your magic so it doesn't come out accidentally. You can do all that at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's the finest magic school in the world."

"Hang on – magic can come out accidentally? Why have we never noticed it, then?" Cathie questioned.

Professor Flitwick frowned at her a little suspiciously, and Cathie knew at once she had not sounded surprised or confused enough to fool him. However, he did not pry, but instead answered her. "Well, often Muggles – that is to say, non-magical folks – can convince themselves after the fact that the accidental magic was a trick of the eye, or perhaps come up with some conceivable yet incredibly far-fetched story that could possibly explain it away."

"Interesting. Humans are very good at deluding themselves, I suppose," Cathie conceded. "But I'd like to see some proof before I believe any of this. Could you do some magic, here, now?"

"I certainly could," Professor Flitwick agreed, and, pulling a wand out of his robes, incanted, "Lumos!" Instantly, a bright glow filled the room, the source of which was the tip of his wand. Then he said, "Nox," and the light went out.

Cadence looked absolutely astonished, her mother slightly less so. Well, Cadence had always been more of a skeptic than their mother, so that made sense. Cathie tried her hardest to look amazed, but Professor Flitwick crossed his arms and gave her a knowing look. "You already knew all this, didn't you, Miss McGinley?"

Desperate to keep her cover, Cathie tried once more to properly express the appropriate level of shock. "What do you mean? No, of course I didn't. How could I possibly know?"

Professor Flitwick sighed. She was screwed, wasn't she? "Miss Garth, if you could please come join us!" Yes, yes she was. They both were. Kaylyn walked sheepishly into the living room, clearly having the same realization.

"You called me, Professor Flitwick?"

"How did you know my name?" Professor Flitwick challenged, smirking at her. Kaylyn blinked at him, wide-eyed, then groaned, smacking herself in the forehead.

"Wow. Three years of keeping our cover, all to blow it on a rookie mistake." Kaylyn shook her head, clearly exasperated with herself. "Well, I guess the jig is up, Cathie."

"I guess it is," Cathie agreed, feeling amused as Cadence and her mother shot her looks with varying degrees of amazement. The former seemed totally speechless, his mouth opening and closing and opening and closing.

"Cathie, what are you talking about?" her mother exhaled, her face saying she already had an idea of what was going on.

"I think I'd better explain, Ms. McGinley," Kaylyn offered. "See, when I first met Cathie, I didn't just happen to wander over. I…, um…, kind of saw her turning a bumblebee blue and white."

Her mother and Professor Flitwick sighed in perfect unison. Cathie wondered how they managed that.

"And then… Well, I was only seven and I wasn't used to Muggles, so I sort of slipped and… and I may or may not have told her she was a witch…, and then, y'know, described Hogwarts and Salem and all that…."

"Wait just a second!" Cadence exclaimed, finally seeming to find his voice. "How did you know about Hogwarts and all that?!"

"Oh, I'm a witch too," Kaylyn explained confidently. "So is Elliott – er, well, a wizard, anyway. He's been going to Hogwarts for two years now. And Mom and Dad are both magic as well – but Mom went to Salem Witches' Institute, not Hogwarts."

"So you just come from an entire family of witches and wizards," Cathie's mother concluded.

"Not quite," Kaylyn corrected. "My Mom's a Muggle-born – that means she was born into a family of Muggles, so she was the first witch in her family. My Dad's side of the family is all magical, though – and that makes him a Pureblood, by the way."

"Really not interested in the terminology right now, Kaylyn," Cadence muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Well then, Miss McGinley, you must surely know all about Hogwarts," Professor Flitwick commented.

"Not really," Cathie confessed. "Kaylyn was convinced I would be heading off to Salem Witches' Academy just like Aunt Ginny, since I live in the U.S. and not England, so she was telling me more about her mother's experiences. Why am I invited to Hogwarts, anyway?"

Professor Flitwick hesitated, exchanging a glance with Cathie's mother. She would have to ask her mother about that later. "See, Miss McGinley, the thing is, there's a magic quill and magic scroll at Hogwarts that automatically record all magic children born in England. And since your mother was in England at the time of your birth…,"

"…I was put down for Hogwarts." Cathie eyed her mother. "Come on, couldn't you have given birth in the right country?"

"It's not like I did it on purpose," her mother laughed. "Though if Hogwarts really is the finest school in the world, I suppose it was quite a stroke of luck that things happened the way they did."

"Couldn't you have just taken us off the roster?" Cadence pointed out to Professor Flitwick. "Wouldn't that have been easier?"

"Well, there are complications with that…." He seemed to be avoiding their gazes. Cathie wondered why. "I mean, Hogwarts can't guarantee that Salem even knows that you exist. We're not very familiar with their methods of finding students, but if it's similar to ours, you would have to have been born in America in order for them to contact you."

Cadence frowned. "That's… a very odd way to do things. It'd make so much more sense if they just had a magic scroll that updated itself when it's time to invite all the kids to school."

"Yes, well…" Professor Flitwick trailed off, and Cathie sensed that that line of conversation was over. "Anyway, to get to Hogwarts, you must go to King's Cross, which, I'm afraid, is a train station in London. It leaves at eleven o'clock precisely on September 1st, so it might be wisest for you to reserve a hotel room for the night before."

"No problem," Cathie's mom dismissed. "Maybe we'll leave two weeks before and spend some time in London. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Excellent!" Professor Flitwick clasped his hands together, looking relieved. "Which makes the next task easier; buying the supplies. Now, usually, whichever professor is sent to tell you about Hogwarts will arrange to show you around Diagon Alley sometime in the nearby future, and help you gather the supplies. However, since you live in America, you would normally be going to a place called Lowing Lane, a place I'm unfamiliar with. But if you're going to be in London two weeks before school starts up, perhaps I can show you around Diagon Alley instead, and you would just do your shopping there every year."

"Sounds good to me," Cathie's mom agreed. "Two weeks before September 1st would be about, ah, August 18th, so we could meet you anytime between the two."

"The sooner the better, so the 19th or the 20th would be best," Professor Flitwick recommended.

Cathie's mom nodded. "The 19th it is. Where shall we meet?"

"At the Leaky Cauldron. It's located on Charing Cross Road, but unfortunately only witches and wizards can see it, so Miss McGinley or Mister McGinley will have to point it out to you. You'll be able to see it after that, though. I'll be there around, ah, let's say ten, which should give us enough time to gather all the supplies. Now, you two," he turned to Cathie and Cadence, "will be at a bit of a disadvantage, I'm afraid. Most students – well, muggle-born students, I should say – have the chance to read through all the books before going to Hogwarts. There are eight textbooks this year, so you'll just have to read what you can and hope for the best. The pureblood students generally know most of it already anyway without needing to read the textbooks. I'd recommend reading the Potions textbook as much as possible – the Professor is, er, a tad stricter, I suppose."

Cathie's mom smirked. "With all due respect, Professor Flitwick, you underestimate my children. Eight textbooks in two weeks? Easy. That's just a little over two textbooks a day. I'm sure they can manage."

Professor Flitwick blinked, then smiled. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. I better be off now – more muggle-borns to visit, you know – and I suppose I'll see you in August."


	3. Please Don't Wake Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The McGinleys (plus Tierney and Kaylyn) prepare for their two-week vacation to England.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's actually quite unnecessary to the story – there's little to no plot progression in it. This is really just an introduction to the characters, so if you're not interested, you can probably just skip it and be fine. There's a summary of the information in the next chapter. I'd recommend reading the second and maybe fifth paragraphs in this chapter first, though. Almost half of the disclaimers are from the names of the cats – maybe next time I have a character with pets, I'll do the smart thing and give them fictional names, rather than the names of my actual pets…. I do not own Harry Potter, Best Day of My Life by American Authors, Lord of the Rings, Thor, Gremlins, Lion King, The Jungle Book, Wicked, Sherlock Holmes, any Nintendo products, or any of the tourist attractions mentioned. Minor cursing.

Date: Fri-Sat, 16 – 17 August, 1991  
Theme Song: Best Day of My Life by American Authors

 

The next month felt like years to Cathie. It was torturous, planning all these exciting things they were going to do, and then being told it couldn't happen for another month and a half. Admittedly, they were working on plans for their two week vacation in London up until the day before, so if the time spent waiting made their trip even more fun, Cathie had to concede that it was worth it.

Apparently, each student was allowed to bring a small pet with them, so Cathie and Cadence had to pick which cats they'd bring out of the bunch they already owned. The oldest two cat they owned were Rusty and Thorn, and then Smeagol and Ninja. All four were strays. Back then, they'd been unable to afford fixing any of them, and while Thorn, Smeagol and Ninja were all girls, Rusty was a tomcat, so Smeagol and Ninja had naturally both been pregnant by the time Rusty was fixed. It was lucky that Thorn hadn't been too. Smeagol had had four kittens, and Ninja had had five. Smeagol's kittens had been named Rafiki, Mogwai, Bagheera and Gizmo. Ninja's kittens had been named Kiyohime, Ra, Gollum, Thor, and Anubis. Rafiki, Mogwai, Kiyohime and Ra were girls, and Bagheera, Gizmo, Gollum, Thor and Anubis were tomcats. Rafiki and Kiyohime were usually just called Fiki and Kiyo.

Rusty and Thorn were basic cat names. Smeagol had been named because she liked to hide inside dark nooks and crannies and stare at people with owl eyes all the time. Rafiki had been named because her face somehow resembled a monkey's, according to Danica. Bagheera had been named because he looked like a panther. Kiyohime had been named because her face sort of made you think of an Asian dragon, and when Cathie, Cadence, Danica and Leanne had gone researching Asian dragons from folklore and mythology to find a good name, they'd come across a Japanese princess named Kiyohime who had been slighted by her lover and proceeded to transform into a dragon and eat him. Danica had taken one look at their cat and decided it was 'the most adorable name ever.' Ra had been named because she had a bright yellow spot in the middle of her dark brown forehead, and Ra was the name of an ancient Egyptian sun goddess. Gollum had been named because he looked so much like his aunt Smeagol. Anubis had been named because his posture was reminiscent of statues of the Egyptian god of death.

Cathie honestly had no idea where the names Ninja, Mogwai, Gizmo and Thor had come from – although admittedly, Ninja was an incredibly fitting name. That cat was always slinking around in the shadows.

Really, there hadn't been much chance of Cathie picking anyone other than Ninja. The feline had been her best friend for as long as Cathie could remember. Admittedly, that wasn't saying much; ever since Cadence had made it his purpose in life to make her life awful, she'd really only had Tierney, Kaylyn and Danica as friends.

Cadence had decided he would rather get an owl instead. They had already been planning on getting one for the family, since both Cadence and Cathie would need a way to communicate with the friends they'd make (as if Cathie would be making any friends as long as Cadence was around) over the summer and their mother would need a way to send them letters while they were at Hogwarts. However, Cadence reasoned that he would just have his own owl that he could just keep as a pet, rather than a letter-sender.

After some thought, their mother had decided to let Kaylyn come if she and her parents were okay with it. She figured that it'd be nice to have someone familiar with Wizarding England around, in case they decided to go back to Diagon Alley for something. While Kaylyn lived in America, she had only moved there three years ago, and her family went to England every summer to visit relatives.

It had come as a relief to learn that Tierney was allowed to join them, too. He was a bit of an outsider in his family because while they prioritized socialization and fitting in with the community, his primary concern tended to be things like actively standing out, something that had drawn him to the McGinley family. Aunt Jamie and Uncle Declan had been letting Cathie's mother take him farther and farther in their travels, but across an ocean was a new record. They seemed to understand how out of place Tierney felt with them, and since they trusted his Aunt Leanne, they were okay with him spending so much time over there as long as when they weren't traveling, he came home every night.

Cathie sometimes felt bad for her mother. After all, her mother was a very orderly person. Not strict, not conventional, just… orderly. But the family her mother had raised was nothing if not chaotic. Every time they went on a vacation, she made up a schedule. A schedule that never got used. Ever. So this time, she had made a very simplistic schedule.

"Okay, guys," she began at 11:30 PM on the sixteenth. "Since my schedules never work, we're going to try a new strategy. We will be in bed by midnight tonight – you four can shut your mouths, I'm not budging," she added when Cathie, Danica, Cadence and Tierney all opened their mouths simultaneously. "I'm being very lenient with this new plan, so just bear with me, okay? If you really want to get less than eight hours of sleep, by all means, go to bed later. Now, you've got from eight to nine tomorrow to get yourselves ready for the day. Danica, no two-hour showers. I've given you nine hours to pack things into bags and pack bags into the car, which should be plenty. Cadence, you can check your email after you finish. That's including an hour for each meal – yes, Tierney, that includes dessert – which means time for an hour-long TV show while we eat. Cathie, you spend about two hours total trying to figure out what you're missing while you pack, so you can spend those two hours cooking lunch and dinner. We'll be in bed by eleven – we have to be up by four in the morning, so I don't want to hear it."

"The day after tomorrow, I've given you from four to five to get ready. Then we do a quick search of the house to make sure everything's in the car, and then we get going. It's an hour and a half to the airport, so we'll have half an hour to get to our plane before it takes off at seven. The flight is a little under nine and a half hours long, so I got us first-class seats. London's five hours ahead of us, so we'll get there around half past eight. The airport's half an hour away from the hotel we're staying at – I found one on Charing Cross Road, which is where that Leaky Cauldron place is. You've got an hour to unpack, and then I decided to leave an hour for exploring the hotel room and the hotel itself since I know that if I don't you'll do it anyway and completely disregard the schedule like you always do."

The five kids cheered. She rolled her eyes. "There's an ice cream place nearby, so we'll go there for dessert, and then we'll be asleep by one. You'll have been up for sixteen hours by then, so you shouldn't have trouble sleeping. Yes, I took jet lag into account. The rest of the next day is dedicated to Diagon Alley, and then the rest of the trip will be spent at tourist attractions. First up on the 20th is the Forbidden Planet, courtesy of Danica. The 21st is Ripley's Believe It or Not, courtesy of Tierney. The 22nd is the Wicked musical, courtesy of Cathie."

"How come Cathie's choice is first?" Cadence complained.

His mother raised an eyebrow. "Remember how I told you to count as high as you could in German the other day?" Cadence nodded. "How far did you get?"

"Ninety-nine."

"Cathie reached ninety-nine hundred and nine."

Cadence scowled as Cathie smirked. "French is easier than German."

"You chose German," Leanne pointed out. "You could've chosen French – or Spanish, actually. You chose the harder language to give yourself a challenge. You chose poorly."

"Tu n'es pas tres intelligent," Cathie informed him.

"I hope you realize that anybody could tell what you just said," Cadence commented. "Also, extremely pretentious move, Cathie."

"That was a bit pretentious," Tierney agreed.

"Anyway," Cathie's mother interrupted, "the 23rd is the Chessington World Adventure theme park, courtesy of Cadence. The 24th is the Science Museum, courtesy of Kaylyn."

"Kaylyn," Cathie and Cadence groaned in unison.

"The 25th is the Thames RIB Experience, courtesy of me. The 26th is the National Gallery, courtesy of Danica."

"Danica," Cathie and Cadence groaned in unison.

"The 27th is the London Bridge Experience, courtesy of Tierney. The 28th is the Legoland theme park, courtesy of Cathie. The 29th is Namco Funscape, courtesy of Cadence. The 30th is the National History Museum, courtesy of Kaylyn."

"Kaylyn," Cathie and Cadence groaned in unison.

"And the 31st is the Sherlock Holmes Tour, courtesy of me."

"Mom," Cadence groaned.

"You're crazy," Cathie told him. "Sherlock Holmes is awesome!"

"So, I'll explain a few of the things we're doing. The Forbidden Planet is a sci-fi store. It sells things like comic books and collectables. The Thames RIB Experience is a tour on a speedboat. The London Bridge Experience is…, well, we're not entirely sure, but it looked pretty awesome, and it takes you through the London tombs."

"Zombies!" all five cheered.

"I've got a list of places to eat at – no being picky."

"Yeah, Cathie," Cadence snickered.

"Yeah, Cadence," Cathie snickered.

"Yeah, Danica," Tierney snickered.

"Yeah, Tierney," Danica snickered.

"I'm talking to all four of you," the exasperated adult in the room sighed. "Notice how no one points out Kaylyn and Kaylyn doesn't point out anyone. Kaylyn, the youngest person in the room. God, I'm so glad you're coming. I'm going to need some intelligent company on this vacation. Anyway, it's midnight, so we should be getting to bed."

 

The next day, Cathie's alarm went off at eight in the morning. "Good morning, Ninja," she mumbled. In response, Ninja meowed cheerfully and hopped off of her. Cathie sighed and stretched luxuriously on her bed. Today was it, her fresh start. Today was the day she would leave behind all the friends she'd never made and happy moments she'd never experienced in this miserable town. Today was the beginning of the rest of her life. She slid out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, following her nose to the source of that delicious scent. She found her mother making pancakes. "Eggnog?" Cathie guessed.

"Yep," her mother confirmed. "Eggnog pancakes, chocolate peanut butter chip pancakes, and mint chocolate chip pancakes. They're almost done."

"You're the best," Cathie yawned. She plopped down on the floor in the living room and curled up like a cat. Gizmo, Thor and Ra immediately swarmed her, finding the comfiest places to sit on top of her.

Across the room on the loveseat, Kaylyn raised her eyebrows as she stroked Kiyohime, who was sitting in her lap. Gollum was stretched out around the back of her neck like a scarf. "You know, there're four seats open."

Cathie blearily opened one eye. "Yeah, but I'm the only one who doesn't mind the floor."

"Which is where you belong," Cadence commented off-handedly as he sat on the sofa between them.

Ninja arrived in the living right on cue and hissed at him.

"That's not right," Cadence complained. "She says things like that to me all the time."

Ninja swatted half-heartedly at him with her claws in.

Trailing behind him, Anubis released a chorus of eager meows and leapt up beside Cadence. Then he settled on Cadence's lap.

Danica wandered into the living room with Bagheera draped over her shoulder, his butt held up in the crook of her arm. Immediately, Smeagol made her appearance, darting forward from inside the fireplace, scaling the loveseat and launching herself onto Danica's other shoulder, where she perched like a parrot. Danica carried on as if all was normal and sat on the sofa.

"Your cats are mental," Tierney announced as he sat next to Kaylyn and immediately found himself with a lap full of Mogwai. "Honestly, what kind of cat hides in a fireplace?"

"Smeagol's not a cat," Cathie explained. "She's a Smeagol."

At the sound of her name, Smeagol arched her back, hissed at Cathie, and leapt from Danica's shoulder down to the ground before fleeing back to the fireplace.

"Mental," Tierney repeated. He looked down at Mogwai. "What are you doing there? Shouldn't you be in a cabinet somewhere?" Mogwai glared at him, then walked over to the china cabinet and crawled beneath. Rafiki crept out from under the loveseat and sprung onto it to take Mogwai's place.

"Alright, pancakes are done!" Cathie's mother shouted from the kitchen. "What do you all want?"

"Two of each!" Cathie called. The pancakes were all around the size of your palm, so six was about right for one serving.

"Two of each," Tierney and Kaylyn agreed.

"One eggnog, one mint chocolate chip, three chocolate peanut butter chip," Danica requested.

"Three mint chocolate chip, two eggnog, one chocolate peanut butter chip," Cadence put in.

After a few minutes, Cathie's mother came out of the kitchen, one tray in each hand, Rusty and Thorn following her. "Here you go, you three," she told Cadence, Danica and Cathie, handing Danica one tray. She walked over to the other side of Cadence and passed plates to Tierney and Kaylyn, while Danica passed plates to Cadence and Cathie. Cathie sat up, unceremoniously shoving Gizmo, Ra and Thor off. They swarmed her once more. She ended up with Ra and Thor on her shoulders and Gizmo in her lap, perfectly comfortable with having a plate balanced on top of him as Cathie ate. Danica, who generally controlled the TV (with input from the others, of course), turned on a TV show that lasted half an hour. When it was over, and everyone was done eating, it became time for packing and showers. It was in order of fastest to slowest, so Cathie's mother, Kaylyn, Tierney, Cadence, Cathie, and then Danica would be showering.

As soon as Cathie was out of the shower and dressed in a top and bottom she'd plucked at random from her dresser, she hurriedly began packing. At a young age, Cathie had decided she didn't really care what she wore and that things would be much simpler if every top she owned matched every bottom she owned, so her wardrobe consisted of nothing but black, gray and white articles of clothing. That came in very handy now, because without looking, she yanked fourteen tops and fourteen bottoms out of her dresser one by one, folded them hastily, and shoved them inside her suitcase.

She was tempted to bring part of her collection of books so that she could read at the hotel whenever they weren't doing anything, but then reasoned that she'd be buying books the day after she arrived. She packed her laptop and charger in next, and then her collection of scarves. She was a little obsessed with those, so she had all sorts of different black, gray and white patterned scarves. Then she went for the socks and underwear. The others in the house would probably be packing shoes, but Cathie only ever wore one pair of shoes (black leather knee-high boots) and she'd be wearing those during the flight, so they didn't need packing.

Cathie paused. She was positive that she wasn't done.

So why couldn't she remember what else she needed to pack?

She ticked off necessities on her fingers. She had all the clothing she'd need, her electronics (her GameBoy and its charger and games would be going in her backpack, along with her cell phone and its charger), her books (those would be waiting for her to purchase them in Diagon Alley), her writing supplies (a sketchbook for doodling, a notebook for writing, a small notepad for quick notes, and a pencil case; all would be in her backpack as well), and…, wasn't that it?

Cathie grimaced. Her mother's premonition was already coming true. Shrugging, she headed into the kitchen to prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She grabbed the peanut butter out of the cabinet and the jelly out of the fridge, and then she began the sandwiches.

Partway through the second sandwich, Cathie started and shouted, "My hairbrush!" and rushed to pack it.

Partway through the third sandwich, Cathie started and shouted, "My toothbrush!" and rushed to pack it.

Partway through the fifth sandwich, Cathie started and shouted, "My backpack!" and rushed to pack everything into it.

Partway through the sixth sandwich, Cathie started and shouted, "My laptop!" and rushed to unpack it from her suitcase and pack it into her laptop case.

Finally, just in time for lunch, lunch was finished. She took a moment to consider the possibility of fetching everyone individually, then opted for taking a deep breath and shouting throughout the house, "LUNCH IS READY!"

"So, how much have you all gotten packed?" Cathie's mother asked everyone during a commercial break in the show they were watching as they enjoyed their sandwiches.

"We haven't gotten very far with the snacks for the plane, I'm afraid," Kaylyn said apologetically. "Tierney and I had to run out for some granola bars – there weren't any left." Kaylyn and Tierney had packed their things at their own respective home yesterday before they had come to the McGinley household to stay the night, so they had offered to pack the things that were for the entire family

"Oh, thank you. Here's the money back." Cathie's mother pulled some money out of her purse and tried to hand it to Tierney but he waved her off.

"Don't bother," he insisted. "I paid for it with money you gave me anyway, and you pay for my things all the time. We might as well not have separate money."

"Cadence, Danica, Cathie?" Cathie's mother turned to her children. "How are you three doing?"

"I think I've got everything," Cathie announced confidently. "My clothes, my hairbrush and toothbrush, and all my backpack things. That… That was it, right?"

"Sure," her mother agreed nonchalantly. "Assuming you weren't intending to bring your headbands, or your CDs, or your CD player…. And I guess Ninja's just going to live off of dust particles for a while."

Cathie blinked. "Oh, shoot! I completely forgot all that stuff!"

Danica scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I may or may not have taken two hours in the shower again…."

"As expected." Her mother nodded, unfazed. "Cadence? Did Riley make it onto the basketball team after all?"

"Yep," Cadence announced, seeming surprised that their mother was taking an interest in Riley.

"And how do you know that? I don't suppose you went on the computer to check your email while packing?" Cadence froze. His mother sighed. "You three are some pieces of work…."

"Well, you can take some of the blame for that – we are your pieces of work, after all," Cathie pointed out.

The TV show they were watching with lunch ended, and since they were all finished eating, they got back to work. She paused in packing her headbands when she felt someone watching her. She turned around, and sure enough, Cadence was there scowling at her. "It's your fault."

She had to have seen this coming, with calling them their mother's pieces of work. "Don't you ever get tired of this conversation?"

"How can you sit there and call us our mother's when it's your fault?"

She rolled her eyes and turned away, continuing to pack. "Well, it's true. Our dad hasn't been around for four years."

"And it's your fault!"

"I still don't understand what makes you think that."

Cadence glared fiercely at her. "Because I came home that day and dad was gone and you were crying and I said, "Where's dad?" and you said "sorry" to me, and why would you have done that if it wasn't your fault?"

Cathie shook her head. "None of that happened."

"Yes it did!"

"Cadence, I'm telling you that I don't remember any of those things happening."

"That doesn't mean much coming from the girl who didn't remember her headbands a few minutes ago."

"I think I'd remember something as important as being the reason our dad left."

"You always hated him anyway." With that, Cadence left, and Cathie went back to what she was doing, pretending the conversation had never happened.

She finished about two hours before dinner, so she made katsudon (a Japanese dish featuring pork, egg and rice) to celebrate going to Hogwarts. It was one of the few recipes her grandmother had managed to pass down before her death. When three-year-old Cathie had shown a relish for cooking, Grandma Miyako had given a recipe to her adopted daughter, Cathie's mother, with instructions that only Cathie be allowed to read it, when the time came for her to be capable of such a task. Grandma Miyako had been diagnosed with cancer and told that she had a year to live. Cathie's mother had been taught all Grandma Miyako's favorite recipes from her homeland, but no one had ever had so much potential and passion in the kitchen that Grandma Miyako found them worthy of being given the actual, physical recipes to read. Therefore, Cathie was now the only person in the family who could cook katsudon almost exactly the way her deceased grandmother could. Grandma Miyako had also given her mother the recipes for miso soup and tempura before she was in a car crash. Had the car crash never happened, she probably would have given Cathie all her recipes before cancer took her life. Cathie knew for a fact that her mother had never looked at the recipes because there were little things that her mother had never did with those dishes.

Cathie didn't remember her grandmother very well at all, since she had been so young, but she knew that she was not the only one who had received things like that from her. For instance, her cousin Niall, Tierney's younger brother, was a musical genius. On top of being a pro at playing the drums, keyboard and guitar, he also had an amazing voice. He had shown a knack for music around Cathie's age, and so Grandma Miyako had given him some traditional Japanese music to learn and taught him a few tricks that Americans didn't tend to use. He'd been seven when the car crash had occurred, so he'd of course learned lots more from her.

Cathie kept all the recipes on a memory card, along with several other important documents. One of those was a story she'd started when she was six, about herself and her imaginary friends. She'd never finished it, but she certainly intended to at some point because she had a hard time letting go of the intricate universe she had created, and she treasured it as the beginning of the best part of her life; writing. She also had an ongoing series she was working on, featuring her thirteen cats and two cats she used to own who had passed away from old age a few years ago. They'd been older than Cathie was now, so it had been a matter of time, but naturally Cathie missed them more than she could possibly express. There were three finished short stories in the series, and a fourth one that was almost complete. The memory card now hung from a cord around her neck every day, all day.

She finished up the katsudon fifteen minutes before everyone was done packing, but figured it didn't matter and called everyone anyway rather than let it get cold. An hour later, everyone went back to packing. Cathie was done, so she played video games for a while until she realized she ought to keep up with her French while she was at Hogwarts, so she packed her French textbook, then went on her laptop to write for a while. Then it was time for dessert, and then it was time for bed.

 

Cathie woke up bright and early the next morning at six, unbelievably excited. It was time to go to England!


	4. Running Down the Avenue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie and Cadence go shopping for their Hogwarts supplies, and Cathie makes a few discoveries and a few friends along the way (but Breindel is NOT one of them).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diagon Alley time! If you're reading this after skipping the last chapter, the summary is after the disclaimer. I do not own Harry Potter or Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra. Minor cursing. P.S. I sincerely apologize for another corny title.
> 
> Summary: Tierney and Kaylyn were given permission to come along on the vacation. Cathie is studying French, and Cadence is studying German. Cathie is the chef in the family. Everyone packed their things and woke up bright and early to go catch their flight. Some background info was provided; Cathie's mother was adopted, and her adopted mother, Grandma Miyako, was Japanese. Grandma Miyako was diagnosed with cancer, and so gave Cathie's mom some recipes from Japan that only Cathie was allowed to read, and only when she got older. Grandma Miyako was in a car crash when Cathie was three, however, so she didn't get the chance to pass down all the recipes. Tierney's parents, Aunt Jamie and Uncle Declan, are very different from the McGinley family, although still very tolerant and accepting. Tierney gets along better with the McGinleys, which is why he spends most of his time with them. He has a younger brother named Niall who is a musical prodigy. Cathie owns a memory card that she keeps on a necklace around her neck. On the memory card are all of Grandma Miyako's recipes, as well as other important documents such as Cathie's many stories that she's written/writing.

Date: Monday, 19 August, 1991  
Theme Song: Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

 

"Mom! Mom, I see it! It's the Leaky Cauldron!" Cathie gestured eagerly to the pub on the corner of the road they were walking on.

Her mother blinked at the spot for a few seconds, then smiled. "Oh, good, you found it. Alright, guys, let's head in."

The six of them walked inside the Leaky Cauldron and saw Professor Flitwick waiting for them at a table. "Excellent!" he beamed at them. "Ah, Ms. McGinley, I see you brought company." He smiled at Tierney and Kaylyn.

"I figured we could use Kaylyn's expertise in Wizard England in case we decide to come back here without you," Cathie's mother explained. "And, well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to bring Tierney too and give him the experience, since he knows about all this anyway."

As Professor Flitwick had been leaving their home back in July, they had discovered Tierney eavesdropping in the hallway. Really, Cathie was relieved by that – at least this way she didn't have to get in trouble for telling him, because there was no way she could hide something so important from him.

"Have you eaten yet?" Professor Flitwick asked. "If not, we can eat here."

"No, we haven't eaten. I was figuring we'd do just that," Cathie's mother explained. "Are wizard foods different from Muggle foods?"

"Not much," Professor Flitwick reassured her. "Some of them have a charm or two on them to make them look fancier, but other than that, there's virtually no difference. Save for the pumpkin juice, of course."

"Pumpkin juice?" Danica, Tierney, Cathie and Cadence blurted out as one, before exchanging sheepish glances.

Professor Flitwick smiled at them. "Yes, pumpkin juice. I know it sounds pretty awful, but I'd advise you to try it."

"They will," Cathie's mother agreed pointedly, shooting them warning looks.

All six of them ended up trying it with their meal, and surprisingly, only Danica and Cadence disliked it. Cathie had really been expecting Danica to like it – after all, her sister was a huge fan of pumpkin pie.

Next, Professor Flitwick led them to an area in the back of the Leaky Cauldron, where he tapped a series of bricks with his wands and the bricks in the wall slowly shifted until there was a decent-sized opening. They gasped in amazement as he led them through, and then he pulled out three lists and passed one to Cathie, one to Cadence, and one to their mother. "Those are the supply lists," he told them. "One per student, and then I made a third copy for the parent, which is the customary for Muggle-borns. We have to go to Gringotts first to exchange your Muggle money for wizard money, which is going to be an especially complicated process, I'm afraid, since your money is not only Muggle, but American as well. From there we usually go to Ollivander's for your wand, then Madam Malkin's for your uniform, then Slug & Jiggers for your potions ingredients, then Potage's for your cauldron, then Wiseacre's for your telescope, scales and phials, and lastly Flourish & Blott's for your books. That's in order of the total size of your purchases from each shop, rather than weight. Wizard shops usually use bags that are equipped with charms that make the contents as light as a feather, so weight isn't a problem, but it's difficult to walk with lots of large purchases. If you wish to purchase one or more pets as companions for Hogwarts – although I ought to warn you that the limit is one pet per student – then I recommend we save that store for last, since the animals will get antsy. To buy an owl, Eeylop's Owl Emporium would be best, or else the Magical Menagerie. Does this order sound agreeable?"

"It sounds perfect," Cathie's mother declared. "Shall we get to it, then?"

Professor Flitwick led them to the end of Diagon Alley, where a large, white, sophisticated-looking building awaited them. They walked up the steps and Professor Flitwick paused with his hand on the door handle. "I should warn you," he began, "there are goblins within. They are the ones who own Gringotts. They handle everything." Then they walked inside. It was filled with curious creatures that had to be the goblins. They were about Professor Flitwick's height, with incredibly long fingers. Cathie wondered absently if their toes were that long too.

Professor Flitwick strode up to one of the counters that had a goblin on hand and said, "Excuse me, this American muggle mother needs to exchange some money for wizard money."

"American wizard money or British wizard money?" the goblin asked in a bored tone.

"British, please."

"How much?"

Professor Flitwick hesitated, glancing back at Cathie's mother. "How much money will you be exchanging, Ms. McGinley?"

Cathie's mother frowned and shifted uncomfortably. "Not really sure. How much wizard money do you think I should take out?"

Professor Flitwick narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "I would take out a hundred and eighty galleons to be safe."

"Alright. Um, how much is that in American muggle money?"

Professor Flitwick turned expectantly to the goblin, who responded, "$1,323."

Tierney whistled as Cathie's mother shrugged like it was nothing and pulled out the money. "That's a lot for some school supplies."

"Well, the most expensive things you'll be buying here today will be intended to last the full seven years at Hogwarts," Professor Flitwick explained. "The cauldron, for example, costs fifteen galleons alone at the cheapest. The wand is made to last a lifetime, and costs seven galleons. There are two first-years here, so that means double the cost for everything. Most families, especially muggle-born, qualify for a loan from Hogwarts to pay for the initial school supplies, but you lot are wealthy enough that I didn't see the point in mentioning it. Also, you'll probably want some spending money just in case."

The goblin handed hundred and fifty galleons to Cathie's mother, and the group exited Gringotts. "Where did you suggest we go next, Professor Flitwick?" Cathie's mother asked.

"Ollivander's," Professor Flitwick answered. "Right this way, Ms. McGinley." They followed him to another shop. As soon as they entered, Cathie heard the distant ringing of a bell somewhere in the shop. There was only a single piece of furniture in the room, and it was a tiny chair. The group decided unanimously nonverbally to leave it empty. There were boxes stacked right to the ceiling all around them. Cathie supposed they contained wands, but it was difficult to believe that there could be so many.

"Hello," a soft voice greeted them. Everyone jumped out of their skin and turned to face the elderly man who was approaching from deeper inside the shop. His eyes gleamed, wide and pale like a pair of full moons. "My name is Garrick Ollivander. How may I help you?"

Cathie stared, extremely unnerved. No one ever snuck up on her. How had he managed it? She composed herself and managed a polite smile.

"We're here for a couple of wands," he was informed by Cathie's mother, who was the only person who seemed entirely unaffected and had barely flinched at his abrupt arrival.

He smiled, and though it was a perfectly friendly smile, it seemed evil somehow. "Well, you've come to the right place. As the sign outside reads, the Ollivander family has been the best in the wand-making business since 382 B.C."

"It's certainly good to hear that my children will be getting good-quality wands. So, I'm not entirely familiar with this process. Do they just go and pick their wands?"

Mr. Ollivander shook his head. "In fact, it is the wand that chooses the wizard – or witch. Wands have minds of their own, you might say. Your children will have to test out several wands to see which one chooses them."

"How will we know?" Cathie asked curiously as Mr. Ollivander inspected the stacks of boxes.

Mr. Ollivander's expression turned mysterious. "You'll know when you know," he replied vaguely. He pulled two boxes off of one of the stacks, carefully considered them for a moment or two, then handed one to Cadence. "Try this one out. Made of walnut, with a unicorn hair core. Nine inches long. A tad pliable."

Cadence hesitantly opened the box and removed the wand inside. "Erm, what do I do now?"

"Just give it a wave," Mr. Ollivander encouraged.

Cadence awkwardly waved the wand. A lightbulb in the chandelier shattered.

"Absolutely not!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, suddenly sounding scandalized. Cadence hurriedly placed the wand back inside the box, closed it, and offered it back to Mr. Ollivander, who ripped it from Cadence's hands. "No, perhaps this one was a better choice after all." He handed the other box to Cadence, who nervously accepted it. "Thirteen and a half inches with elm wood and dragon heartstring core. Rather unyielding."

Cadence gave this one a wave too, and the lightbulb repaired itself.

Mr. Ollivander gaped at him, astonishment written clearly on his face. "My word! I don't believe I've ever seen a wizard chosen so fast! Ah, that'll be seven galleons."

Cathie's mother handed over the money, looking impressed, and Cadence pocketed the wand with a very smug expression. He smirked at Cathie.

"Here, try this wand out first." Mr. Ollivander handed Cadence's leftovers to Cathie, who removed the wand. Before she could do anything, however, he snatched it away.

"No, no, try out this one. Ebony wood, unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy."

"Simply preposterous! How about this – blackthorn wood, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter of an inch, bendy."

"That just won't do. Take this one; willow wood, unicorn hair, fourteen inches, unyielding."

On and on the list went, yet nothing seemed right. Cadence's expression grew more and more smug.

"Cherry wood, unicorn hair, thirteen inches, swishy." Cathie accepted the wand, but didn't wave it immediately, glancing at Mr. Ollivander to see if this was another wand that he would tear from her. It wasn't, so she tentatively waved it around.

"Hmm…." Mr. Ollivander studied the wand for a while. His reactions were peculiar and terribly confusing. It was as if he was enjoying the long list of wrong wands. "It's very close. Here, try this one out. Birch wood, dragon heartstring, twelve and three quarters of an inch long, one of the swishiest wands here."

Cathie gave this one a wave too. The box in her other hand evaporated, leaving a pile of ash in her hands. Her guilty gaze snapped towards Mr. Ollivander in alarm.

Mr. Ollivander merely chortled. "I do believe that means it's chosen you, then," he commented cheerfully. "Seems like a perfect match." Cathie stared in bewilderment, unable to tell what could possibly have convinced him of this. "That's another seven galleons, please."

Cathie's mother passed him the seven galleons, and the group was on their way. Cathie's eyes shifted downwards to fix upon the object of her confusion.

"Where to now, Professor?" her mother asked.

"Flourish & Blott's." Professor Flitwick headed down the street with them in tow, towards possibly the most magnificent thing Cathie had seen all day; a bookstore – full of books Cathie had likely never even heard of.

She and Cadence immediately darted forward to examine all the books there, heading in separate directions once they were inside. She found herself staring at a book called Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve to Live. Key word here being lycanthropes. And it was in the nonfiction section. Werewolves had been Cathie's worst fear ever since she had seen a scary werewolf movie when she was three, and apparently they were real.

"You shouldn't read propaganda like that," someone said. Cathie turned to see a girl about her age with a long brown ponytail. "Werewolves are just misunderstood."

"That's what I would've thought," Cathie admitted. "They sound like they must be terrifying when they're in their wolf forms, but otherwise they're regular humans, right?"

The girl nodded. "Exactly. If you want to learn more about werewolves, I'd recommend something like this instead." She pulled a book off the shelf and handed it to Cathie. It was called Hairy Snout, Human Heart. "I know it doesn't look like much more than propaganda from the other side of the debate, but it's actually quite informative."

"Thanks." Cathie accepted the book. "So… I take it you're a pureblood or a half-blood?"

"Yep. You?"

"Muggle-born. I'm going to my first year at Hogwarts this year."

"Oh – me too. Well, actually, I'll be in my second year, but I am going to Hogwarts this year. I'm a Gryffindor. What house are you hoping to end up in?"

"Um. Not really sure."

The girl smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh, of course you're not – you're a muggle-born. I suppose you don't even know what the houses are, do you?" Cathie shook her head. "Well, when you go to Hogwarts, you get sorted into one of four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. All your classes will be with the students who are in the same house and year as you. Some classes are also with students in other houses. Anyway, Gryffindor is the best house, for sure. That's where all the greatest wizards come from. Our headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard in the world, was in Gryffindor when he went to Hogwarts. You get sorted into Gryffindor if you're good, and brave. Ravenclaw is where you go if you're really smart. Slytherin is where all the worst wizards come from. Not worst as in bad at magic, but worst as in evil. You-know-who himself came from there."

"Um… Actually, I don't know who."

"Oh, yeah, of course you don't. Okay, so before I was born, there was this wizard who thought all muggles and muggle-borns were substandard humans. Actually, a lot of purebloods and some half-bloods at least believe that muggles are substandard. I don't, though. No decent person does. So this wizard actually started a war to try and either kill or enslave all muggles and muggle-borns. He killed a lot of people. It was awful. But one day – when I was two – he went to kill a family, the Potter family. He did kill the mother and father, but the son – the one-year-old – for some reason, it didn't work, and You-Know-Who died that day instead. The kid, Harry Potter, is a legend now. No one knows how he survived, but he got a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt." The girl frowned. "You know what, he's probably going to be at Hogwarts this year. Isn't that exciting?"

Cathie nodded. She felt sort of bad for the kid. It must, growing up without any parents. At least Cathie had her mother. Then again, relatives or family friends probably adopted this Harry Potter, so he probably did grow up with parents.

"Anyway, I've never heard of a muggle-born ending up in Slytherin, so you don't have to worry about going there. Hufflepuff, the fourth house, is where people who aren't smart, brave or evil go. They're not stupid or cowardly, though. Just, well, not particularly brave or smart."

Cathie knew immediately where she was going.

The girl held out her hand. "By the way, my name's Katie Bell."

Cathie shook Katie's hand. "I'm Cathie McGinley. Nice to meet you."

"You too. Anyway, I best be off; my dad's at the door now, probably waiting for me. I'll see you at Hogwarts."

Katie left the store, and Kaylyn came up beside her. "Hey, who was that?"

"Her name's Katie. She's a second year at Hogwarts, in Gryffindor."

"Cool. It's good that you'll know someone other than Cadence and Elliott when you go, since you're not exactly best friends with either of them."

Cathie snorted. "Bit of an understatement, Kaylyn. Cadence and I hate each other's guts, and Elliott and I… Well, we're not on much better terms."

"So what's that you've got?" Kaylyn inspected the book in Cathie's hands. "Werewolf book? Not a bad idea. They can be pretty dangerous on full moons. You ought to learn as much as you can about them. Anyway, there's a book I wanted to show you." She held up a book called Quidditch Teams of England and Ireland. "Lots of people are going to want to know which Quidditch team you support, so you should try and figure that out. Also, I know you're terrified of heights, but you'll need to get on a broom during Flying class, so – "

"Wait, what?" The world came to a halt. "Oh, God, no. Absolutely not."

"Cathie…."

"I cannot get on a broom. No way is that happening."

"It's a class, Cathie. What are you more scared of, flying or failing a class?"

That was a harder decision than it should have been.

Kaylyn sighed. "Look, there are professional Quidditch players who used to be in your position. Some of them wrote about their experiences in this book. I figured you could read that and maybe it'd help."

Reluctantly, Cathie took the book. "Alright, thanks. I guess I kind of have to give flying a shot anyway, don't I?"

"Yes. Yes you do."

"Hey, you two!" Tierney was calling them from the cash register. "If you've got books you want to get, bring them up here now. We're ready to go."

"Okay!" Cathie and Kaylyn darted up and Cathie handed her two books to the cashier.

She scanned them (so magical cashiers use scanners, too?) and put them into bags. "That'll be twenty-seven galleons, five sickles and twenty-six knuts."

"Wow," Tierney commented. "How much is that in, er, muggle money?"

The cashier shrugged. "Not sure. About five pounds to a galleon, I think, so maybe around a hundred and thirty-five pounds."

Tierney frowned thoughtfully. So did Cathie's mother. "I think that'd be two hundred and seven dollars, give or take a few cents."

"Oh, so you're American?" the cashier commented. "So am I. Actually, I'm muggle-born, too. I'm attending Hogwarts right now."

"Really?" Cathie asked interestedly. "What house?"

"Ravenclaw." The girl smiled. "I was made prefect this year."

"Oh, congratulations," Cathie's mother exclaimed.

"Erm." Danica raised an eyebrow. "What's a prefect?"

"A student authority figure at Hogwarts," the girl and Kaylyn explained in unison. They grinned at each other as the girl continued. "They patrol the corridors-" Corridors? Cathie mouthed at Tierney, her eyebrows narrowed in confusion. Hallways, Tierney mouthed back, smirking. "-after curfew to make sure it's enforced, and they can dock points from students they see breaking rules. They can also hand out detentions if necessary."

"'Dock points?' What's that mean?" Cadence inquired.

"See, each house starts with zero points. A student can gain points for their respective house by doing things like doing well in class and participating. However, they can also lose points for their respective house by breaking rules. The amount of points taken or given depends on how extraordinary the action was. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. Also, every house has their own Quidditch team. The Quidditch team also earns house points for winning matches – and at the end of the year, the Quidditch team that does the best is awarded the Quidditch Cup."

"Wow," Cathie breathed. "American schools definitely aren't that complicated."

The girl shrugged. "It's a boarding school, so I guess they have to make things more interesting for the students living there. Not that it can get much more interesting than being taught magic on a regular basis. Anyway, I'm Penelope Clearwater. I assume I'll be seeing you in a few weeks?"

"Yes, you will. I'm Cathie McGinley, this is my twin Cadence McGinley." Cathie felt rather surprised. She probably hadn't introduced herself twice in one day since her father had walked out of her life.

Penelope smiled. "I'll have to remember that so I can show you some favoritism." She winked. "Anyway, I'll see you. Try and end up in Ravenclaw, 'kay?" She waved to them as they left.

"So, I was thinking, since it's about lunch time, we could go get some ice cream from that Florean Fortescue place," Cathie's mother suggested. Then she frowned. "They do sell ice cream there, right?" she asked Professor Flitwick. "Or does ice cream parlor mean something else in this place?"

Professor Flitwick shook his head. "No, it really is an ice cream parlor."

And so they went to Florean Fortescue's. Professor Flitwick and Cathie's mother decided to go buy the potions ingredients, cauldrons, phials, scales, and telescopes while the kids had ice cream, so Danica was left to watch over Tierney, Kaylyn, Cathie and Cadence. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea.

Luckily, Cathie and Cadence didn't rip each other to shreds, thanks to the timely arrival of Katie Bell. "Hey, Cathie," she greeted Cathie.

"Oh, hi!" Cathie blinked, surprised. She had figured that Katie would've been gone already. "Uh, this is my sister Danica, my cousin Tierney, my friend Kaylyn, and my twin Cadence."

Katie nodded to them all. "It's cool that you have a twin."

"Says the girl who doesn't have one," Cadence pointed out, his voice light and amused.

Katie shrugged. "Yeah, I s'pose. I do know a pair of twins, though. They're a year above me, and they're the funniest people I've ever met – don't tell them I said that, though," she added, her voice dropping to a stage whisper briefly before returning to a normal tone. "They get along famously. Real cliché, too, for a pair of twins. They speak in sync, finish each other's sentences – and they're identical, too, which makes everything that much cheesier."

Cathie, Cadence, Kaylyn and Katie started talking together, which naturally relieved Danica and Tierney; they wouldn't have to separate the twins if the twins were distracted by conversation. Cadence wouldn't dare pick a fight in front of his mother, of course, and Cathie, well, Cathie didn't bother bringing up the bullying or anything like that to her mother anymore. She had stopped relying on anyone but herself long ago, even her mother.

Soon enough, Professor Flitwick and Cathie's mother returned – just in time, because Katie's family had left a few minutes ago and Cathie and Cadence were giving each other those looks again. "Alright, done with the shopping," Cathie's mother announced cheerfully. "Time to go get your owl, Cadence." His head snapped up, and the group headed to Eeylop's Owl Emporium.

Cathie inspected the various owls there. There were tawny owls, which creeped her out, and brown owls, which creeped her out even more, and barn owls, which creeped her out the most. No, Cathie was definitely not a fan of owls. And then there were the snowy owls, which were actually pretty adorable, especially considering they were owls.

"Interesting – this one hunts in both daytime and nighttime." Cathie turned and paled rapidly. Cadence was inspecting one of the labels on a shelf upon which stood a new type of owl. Apparently the store was not limited to tawny owls and brown owls and barn owls and snowy owls. In front of Cadence were eagle owls, which creeped her out more than any creature should be capable of. He turned to look at her, and smirked.

"You know what?"

Oh, no….

"I think…"

Oh God, PLEASE no….

"I think I like this one."

THAT SON OF A –

"Yep, I think I'm going with this one."

WHY AM I RELATED TO YOU?!

And so they walked out of the shop with Cadence's new pet Breindel and Cathie's new nightmare.


	5. Life Keeps Moving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie boards the Hogwarts Express, where she meets Lee Jordan and the infamous Weasley twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finding the right title for this chapter was extremely difficult, so I kind of gave up and settled for this one. Also, I swear, chapter theme songs will cease being so similar next chapter. There is in fact a reason why Ninja is so smart, but you shall not find out why for a very long time. If you DO figure out why before I tell you, which will not be as easy as figuring out other little and not-so-little twists because I don't foreshadow it even slightly, you get a free OC who can be either a part of Dumbledore's Army or the Order of the Phoenix, or a Death Eater, who can be a spy and/or a student if you like. I do not own Harry Potter, On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons, or Lord of the Rings.

Date: Sunday, 1 September, 1991  
Theme Song: On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons

 

"Cathie, wake up."

"…Ugh…."

"Cathie, wake up."

"…Ugh…."

"Cathie, I'm serious – you gotta get up so you can go catch the Hogwarts Express."

"…Ugh…."

Something heavy suddenly landed on Cathie's stomach, followed by the feeling of sixteen claws piercing her body. She squeaked and her eyes snapped open. Ninja was sitting calmly atop her, smirking as she groomed her paw. "Get off, you devil-cat," Cathie grumbled. Ninja obliged, leaping gracefully to the floor of the hotel room, and Cathie groggily got to her feet, pulled a random shirt and random pair of pants out of her dresser, and pulled off the robe that covered her pajamas.

"Hang on a second!" Tierney exclaimed, scandalized. "I'm right here, you know!"

She shrugged, too tired to care. "Turn around. Or don't. I really couldn't care less."

Huffing, Tierney turned around, and she could practically hear him pouting. As she dressed, he commented, "We're having the same trouble with Cadence. You know, you two are more alike than you realize."

"When I come back from Hogwarts," Cathie yawned, "I'm going to hex you for that comment." She finished dressing and said, "Alright, you can turn around now."

"Good." He faced her. "So, it's now 10:15, and in fifteen minutes we have to leave for King's Cross station. You don't have to worry about packing your things up, since Aunt Leanne, Danica and I are coming back here after you two leave."

"What about Kaylyn?"

Tierney gave her a weird look. "Um, Kaylyn's going home with her own family. Her mother and father are going to be at King's Cross to drop her brother off – he goes to Hogwarts too, remember?" Cathie scowled. She really would rather not be going to the same school as Elliott, but oh well. She'd have to deal with it. "Now, you do have to pack up anything you plan to bring with you to Hogwarts." He paused to snicker. "Unlike you, Cadence still hasn't packed at all for that, so he's going to have a fun time for the next fifteen minutes." Cathie snickered too. "You ought to make sure that everything you're bringing is together, though, and that all the things you'll probably be using during the train ride are in your backpack. Oh, and don't forget about Ninja."

"Ninja!" Cathie shouted, alarmed. She hurriedly grabbed the cage and opened it. "Ninja, girl, come on, get in the cage. I know you don't want to, but if you don't then you can't come to Hogwarts with me, and I know you don't want that."

Ninja reluctantly padded inside, all the while giving Cathie a sulky glare.

Cathie finished packing the rest of her things five minutes later. "Alright, done."

Tierney sighed. "And I suppose you expect Ninja to eat the rust off her cage for the next ten months."

Cathie blinked, bewildered, then shouted, "Wait a second – the food!" and rushed to get Ninja's food.

"And the fleas – well, I'm sure she'll enjoy the company."

"The diatomaceous earth!" She rushed to get the anti-flea powder.

"And it's always a pleasure to eat off of the floor and drink puddles from the floor."

"The dishes!" She rushed to get the dishes.

"And God forbid she have anything to do while she's by herself during your classes.

"The toys!" She rushed to get the cat toys.

By the time she was finished, she had five minutes before it was time to leave. "Alright, now I'm done. Right?" She looked hopefully to Tierney for reassurance.

"Yep, you're totally done packing." She exhaled in relief. "Now, if you want to go to your first day at Hogwarts with hair that looks like a rat's nest and breath that smells like something crawled inside your mouth and died, that's perfectly fine by me."

Cathie spent the rest of her time brushing her hair and teeth, and after another sarcastic comment from Tierney, washing her face.

"Okay everyone, it's time to head off to King's Cross!" Cathie's mother announced.

 

Twenty minutes later, they arrived, with ten minutes to spare. "Okay, you two, here's how it is." Cathie's mother faced her twins. "There was some money left over from shopping in Diagon Alley, so I divided it between the two of you." She passed out pouches of money, which Cathie and Cadence eagerly accepted. "There's eight galleons, four sickles and three knuts left apiece. Professor Flitwick mentioned that there's a cart on the train that goes around selling things like Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes, so I figure you can use it on that. He also said that there's a wizard post office in London that Muggles can send letters to so that the letters will be sent by owl to the students and teachers at Hogwarts, so I can send you more money if there happens to be something at Hogwarts to buy."

"Kaylyn! Hey, Kaylyn, we're here!" Aunt Ginny and Uncle Carl showed up. "Elliott's already on the train."

"Oh! Hi mom, hi dad!" Kaylyn hugged her parents.

"Hello Aunt Ginny and Uncle Carl," Cathie greeted them.

"Hello Virginia and Carlton," Cathie's mother greeted them.

Her mother and Kaylyn's parents made small talk for five more minutes. Then Tierney announced, "It's almost eleven, so you two better get on the train."

"Oh!" Cathie exclaimed. "Alright – bye, Kaylyn!" She and Kaylyn hugged.

"See you, Mom, Danica, Tierney." Cadence gave quick hugs to each person.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Tierney! Bye, Danica!" Cathie did the same, and both of them put their respective luggage on their respective carts. Professor Flitwick had already explained how they got to Platform 9 ¾, so they tentatively stepped through the barrier.

Cathie sighed in relief when she saw a bright red train on the tracks in front of her, beneath a sign that read, Hogwarts Express. Beaming, she walked cheerfully toward one of the entrances, pushing her cart in front of her. Then she paused to look around. There were still plenty of people milling about on the station, even though there were only five minutes left. A round-faced boy was peering at the train tracks as if looking for something; a pair of red-headed identical twins were clambering off of the train, shooting glances behind them; a boy with dreadlocks was holding a box, and a relatively small group of people were crowding around him, inspecting it, then shrieking every time it opened. Unable to fight her insatiable curiosity, she joined the crowd and peered at the box. He opened it – and a tarantula was inside.

The people around her shrieked once more, leaping backwards, but Cathie leaned in closer, fascinated. "Is it venomous?"

"Yeah," the boy answered. "But her bites aren't fatal. They're really more like bee stings than anything else."

Cathie raised her hand, hesitated, then slowly lowered it onto the tarantula, which stiffened, but made no move to bite her. She cautiously pet its back, and it slowly but surely relaxed.

"You're the first person who's come near her," the boy exclaimed, sounding impressed. "Let alone have the nerve to touch her. Let me guess – Gryffindor?"

Cathie shrugged. "No clue yet. I'm a first year."

"Oh. Well, trust me – that kind of courage will land you in Gryffindor for sure." He covered the spider up and placed the box in his cart before holding his hand out. "I'm Lee Jordan – oh, wait a second, you might want to use hand sanitizer." He opened a bottle and put a few drops into her hand. "You should always try not to touch anything else after touching a tarantula. Anyway, the name's Lee Jordan. I'm a third-year Gryffindor."

"I'm Cathie McGinley." Cathie shook his hand. "Has no one really even touched that spider? I'm amazed. I thought that at least one kid would've come over and touched it just to prove that he could."

Lee shook his head. "Most people aren't quite that comfortable with spiders, let alone tarantulas. I'm trying to figure out a good way to use this tarantula as a prank. You'll soon find out that me, Fred and George are the coolest and most successful pranksters around."

"It'd be pretty cool hairless," Cathie mused. "Maybe if you got it a pair of roller skates…."

Lee grinned at her. "I like the way you think." He glanced behind him at a clock. "The train's about to leave – why don't you grab a seat with me?"

Cathie stared at him for a few moments, surprised, then snapped out of it and said, "Okay, sure." They pushed their carts towards a train door and heaved their luggage off of their carts and into the train. Once it was there, Cathie pulled her suitcase behind her and carried Ninja's cage in the other hand. Lee did the same with his suitcase and tarantula. "Does it have a name?" she asked as they strolled along, searching for an empty compartment.

"Yeah." Lee smirked. "Shelob."

Cathie stopped dead. "Shelob? You named it Shelob?" She thought might cry from the awesomeness. "That's, like, the most fantastic name in the entire universe. I take it you're not pureblood."

"Nah, half-blood." Lee's smirk grew as they kept going. "Those books are some of the only books I actually enjoy reading. They're fantastic.

"I know, right? I've read and reread them, like, fifty times." They finally found an empty compartment as a whistle blew outside.

"So, we've established that Shelob should be shaved and equipped with a pair of roller skates," Lee began. "Now what else can we do to make her freaky-looking – and what shall we do with her?"

"Lee!" The red-headed twins from earlier popped into their compartment. "We heard you have a tarantula!" they chorused, eyes gleaming.

"That would be Fred and George Weasley," Lee introduced them. "Fred, George, this is Cathie. She's Shelob's new friend – the tarantula's new friend."

"The tarantula made a friend?" one of them commented as they plopped onto a seat beside her. "That's nice. I doubt she makes many of those. By the way, I'm Fred, and that's George. Just so you know."

"Prat," Lee scolded him. "You can't do that to a person when you've just met them. At least give her a chance to try and tell you apart. He's lying," he added to Cathie. "That's George, and this one next to me is Fred."

"So which house are you in?" they asked. Cathie blinked, caught off-guard by how in sync they were. They definitely took identical twins to a whole new level.

"Um, none, yet. First-year," she explained.

"She made friends with the tarantula?" Fred echoed, turning to Lee.

Lee nodded. "Yep. Walked right up to her and started petting her, just like that. And the tarantula has a name, you know."

"Gryffindor, then," George summarized.

Cathie laughed. "If you say so. Long as my brother and I aren't in the same house, anything works."

"Which house is your brother in?" Fred asked.

"Um, none, yet. He's a first-year too."

"Hey, another pair of twins running around!" George exclaimed. "Must suck not being identical, but it's still great fun."

"I doubt anyone would have great fun being my brother's twin." Cathie grimaced. "You might say twin, but I say strange nuisance who happened to be born to the same person as me thirteen minutes after me. Thank God we're not identical. We actually look nothing alike. We're like inverted identical twins. Whereas I got my dad's nose, he got our mom's nose. Whereas I got my mom's chin, he got our dad's chin. For every little feature you can think of, one of us got our mom's and the other got our dad's. Personally, I like it better that way."

"That kind of stinks," George commented. "I get that if you don't like each other then you don't like each other and you can't really help that, but it's a shame that you don't like each other. Being a twin has the potential to be something great for you in the long run. Anyway, have you got any other siblings?"

"Yeah – I have an older sister, Danica, and an older brother - er, technically, he's my cousin, but he's more like a brother. His name is Tierney."

"Are either of them at Hogwarts still?"

Cathie shook her head. "They're both muggles, like my parents. What about you three? Any siblings? Any magical relatives?"

"I'm an only child," Lee said. "And you already know that I'm a half-blood."

"We're purebloods," Fred informed her, his expression thoughtful. "We've got two brothers already out of Hogwarts and two brothers still in Hogwarts – one of them is in your year, as a matter of fact. And we've got a younger sister who'll be coming next year. But it's interesting, really interesting that both you and your brother are magical, yet you come from a muggle family. And you said your sister is a muggle?"

Cathie nodded. "Maybe twins are always both either magic or muggle."

Fred shrugged. "Could be."

"So, anyway," Lee interrupted, "I believe we were discussing what prank to pull with Shelob. Now, as I said earlier, we have already established that she will be hairless and wearing roller skates…"

They discussed the matter for a while longer, and eventually they moved onto other matters, and by twelve thirty-five o'clock Lee was retorting to Fred, "Well, my pet doesn't even have a tail, so there!"

"Oh!" Cathie and George chorused.

"Oh yeah? Well guess what? I've never even had a pet with a tail!"

"Oh!"

"That doesn't count! You've never had a pet at all!"

"Oh!"

"Well, I have had Errol. He's partially my pet."

"Uh, Fred, owls have tails."

"Good point."

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" A woman with dimples and a bright smile poked her head into their compartment.

Fred and George smiled politely and said, "No, thanks. We have sandwiches." They didn't look entirely happy about that.

Lee frowned, digging into his pockets. "I think I'll buy a few things from you." He turned to Cathie. "Do you happen to have money on you?"

Cathie nodded. "Yeah – I heard that there was a cart - er, trolley with sweets on the train, so my mom gave me and Cadence – my brother – a bit of money to spend on the train." She followed Lee out into the hallway and stared in amazement at the relatively small but bewildering selection. "Chocolate Frogs?" she commented. "Tell me they're not real frogs. Please, please tell me they're not real frogs."

"They're not," Lee reassured her. "But they do jump, so be careful about that. Anyway, most people buy them more for the wizard cards than the actual frog. Those are like muggle trading cards."

"Interesting," Cathie mused.

Lee turned to the trolley lady. "I'll take a pack of Cauldron Cakes, two Chocolate Frogs, a pack of Licorice Wands, a pack of Drooble's, and two Jelly Slugs please."

The trolley lady held out her hand. "That'll be four sickles and twenty-eight knuts." Lee pulled a pouch out of his pocket and emptied five sickles into her hand. She accepted it and passed him back a single knut along with his purchases.

Cathie glanced into the pouch she had out and open. She had to have at least twenty times what he'd had. She glances back at the compartment, where Fred and George were staring bitterly at the sandwiches in their hands. Then she turned to Lee. "What kind of sweets do Fred and George like?"

Lee smiled. "It's nice of you to ask, but I guarantee anything you buy them, they won't accept."

Cathie frowned, glanced back down at her pouch. "I am going to buy lots and lots of things here. If you three don't eat your shares, I'm going to end up eating them all and then I'll be really fat and it'll be all your fault."

"Well, when you put it like that…." He laughed. "Seriously, you will end up eating all those candies. Those two will refuse on principle."

Cathie scowled. "Challenge accepted." She turned to the trolley lady and said, "I'll have four packs of Bertie Bott's, four packs of Cauldron Cakes, sixteen Chocolate Frogs, four packs of Drooble's, sixteen Jelly Slugs, four packs of Licorice Wands, and four packs of Pumpkin Pasties."

Lee and the trolley lady stared at her like she was the most bizarre creature they'd ever seen. Finally the trolley lady croaked, "Th-That'll be two g-g-galleons, eight sickles and six knuts."

Cathie pulled the money out of her pouch and handed it over calmly without blinking an eye. The trolley lady stared at her in astonishment for a few more moments before taking the money and handing over the purchases. Cathie strode back into the compartment with Lee trailing after her, still shell-shocked. "She's mental," he announced to Fred and George.

"Why? What'd she get?" George asked curiously.

In response, Lee gestured wordlessly to Cathie, who was making four separate piles of sweets. When she looked up, all three of them were staring at her. "I've never seen anyone spend even a galleon there," George breathed hoarsely. "Except the kids from those rich pureblood families, and even then – I don't think they spend two galleons there."

"Yeah, well, my mom gave me too much money. Apparently she overestimated how much the food from the trolley costs. So, I'm going to tell you exactly what I told Lee; if you don't eat your shares, I'm going to eat it all and I'm going to get super fat and it's going to be all your fault. Do you really want that kind of guilt?"

They continued to stare. Cathie rolled her eyes. They were being incredibly stubborn about this. "Look, if you really don't want to accept it, let's make a deal. Are you planning to eat those sandwiches?" The twins exchanged glances and shook their heads. "My cat isn't going to like any of these sweets, but she likes meat and bread. I'll trade you these sweets for your sandwiches."

The twins continued to stare at her. Irritated, she took one pile of sweets, dumped it on George's lap, took another pile of sweets, dumped it on Fred's lap, then did the same to Lee. "Oh, do whatever you like with them. I'm certainly not eating all that."

The three of them still stared at her for several minutes as she ignored them, inspecting her various sweets thoughtfully. Then, sick of it, she threatened, "I'm going to sic my cat on you if you don't eat those damned sweets or at least look away for the love of Gandalf. Isn't that right, Ninja?"

A loud, vicious hiss erupted from Cathie's cage. She smirked.

Finally, Lee laughed. "'For the love of Gandalf.' That's brilliant. I'm gonna have to start saying that." Hesitantly, he plucked a Jelly Slug from the pile, looks at it thoughtfully, and took a bite. Taking his cue, Fred and George slowly started digging into their piles as well, and the four of them ate in companionable silence for a while.

"Ninja's a great name for a cat," Fred commented. He blinked. "Oh, yeah!" He pulled his sandwich out of his pocket and smacked George on the shoulder with it. "Oi, George! We're supposed to give our sandwiches to her cat, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" George pulled out his sandwich too and handed it to Fred. "You can handle that, right?" He winked and returned to the sweets.

Fred scowled. "Prat." He kneeled on the floor next to Ninja, who watched him suspiciously. "Hey, no need to look at me like that!" he defended himself. "I come in peace. I bring offerings!" Cathie stifled giggles as he bowed his head and held the sandwiches before her for her sniffing pleasures. "See? Doesn't that smell tasty?" Not, he mouthed at Cathie. "Is it alright if I open this to give them to her?"

"Sure." Cathie shrugged. "She's very well-trained. Only comes out when you invite her out."

"Really? That's cool." Fred opened the cage and put the sandwiches inside, then closed it again. He sat there for a while, his expression thoughtful. When Ninja finished, Fred turned to Cathie once more and asked, "Does she know any tricks?"

Cathie shrugged. "She knows how to fetch. And play tag."

Now George and Lee paused in their self-indulgence to look at Ninja inquisitively. Fred opened the cage once more. "Hey girl, wanna come out for a bit?"

The incredulous look she gave him was comical, as if to say, Who are you to invite me out? George and Lee were sniggering. Ninja glanced at Cathie, who nodded, and then the feline stepped out gracefully.

Fred pulled a quill out of his pocket and tossed it to the other side of the room. "Fetch!" Ninja raised her eyebrow at him. "Please?" No change. "I'll save you some turkey at dinner?" She dashed to the quill, delicately grasped it in her jaw, dashed back to Fred and dropped it in his waiting hand. "Good girl," he praised, and she lifted her head and puffed out her chest proudly.

"She's like an owl in cat form," George commented.

"Smarter, actually," Lee enthused. "It's almost as if she really understands what we're saying."

Cathie shrugged, brimming with pride on the inside. "Probably, she recognized the word 'fetch,' saw no reason in complying, and then recognized the phrase 'save you some.' She also knows that if I don't give the okay, she isn't allowed out of the cage, and your body language made it clear enough that you were inviting her out."

Fred nodded in understanding. He put Ninja back into her cage and dove back into his sweets, and the room dissolved into small talk. Then a round-faced boy appeared at their door. "Sorry to bother you all, but have you seen any toads?" They shook their heads. The boy visibly deflated. "Oh, no…. My toad, Trevor, I brought him on this train with me, but I can't seem to find him everywhere. I hope he's really on the train."

Cathie frowned. "I… I'll help you look, if you like." She received looks of surprise from all four males in the immediate area.

Then the boy beamed. "Oh, really? Thank you! It'd be dreadful if I left him here."

Cathie nodded to Lee, Fred and George, then left with the boy, whose name was Neville Longbottom. They set off throughout the train, looking in and out of every compartment. Neville grew more and more upset as their chances of success dwindled, soon tearing up a bit. Eventually they ran into a girl named Hermione Granger, who joined them on their noble quest. She seemed like a nice enough girl, but a bit overwhelming. She parted ways with them temporarily when she stayed in one of the compartments to watch some red-headed, freckled boy perform a spell. Then she rejoined them. However, once they had gone through the train three times, it seemed their quest was to no avail. "Sorry, Neville." Cathie frowned sympathetically as Hermione returned to her own compartment. "I'm sure he'll turn up at some point, though. Maybe he's hiding in some student's luggage and they'll bring him in by accident. After all, he can't've gotten far."

"Yeah," Neville agreed, sounding a tad depressed. His head tilted down; then his eyes flicked up at her. "I suppose you're going to go sit with those boys again, huh?"

Cathie blinked. "Well, where are you going to sit?"

Neville shrugged. "With my luggage."

"Who are you sitting with?"

"I… I don't know."

Translation; I was too shy to introduce myself or ask their names and they weren't observational and/or nice enough to introduce themselves and ask my name. Cathie scowled, instantly despising whoever he'd sat with. She considered him for a moment. When she had gotten on this train, the intention had been to keep to herself. Cadence would surely bully her here as he had back home; why bother making friends you won't keep? By being anti-social and staying in the background, people would be less inclined to join him in bullying her because they would never really remember who she was.

She had a slight dilemma now, though. She had already met two girls and gotten pretty friendly with them; Penelope, four years higher, and Katie, one year higher. Since they were in different years and neither was in her year, Cathie was hoping she wouldn't cross their minds too often. However, with Lee, Fred and George, she had given herself a real dilemma. Now she would be the only kid brave enough to touch the tarantula. Now she would be the owner of the super smart cat. Now she would be the generous rich girl. Admittedly, she wouldn't ever want to take back giving them those sweets. Fred and George definitely weren't well off financially; their clothes and trunks were too tattered. Unless they turned out to be huge bullies who really didn't deserve it, she would never take back an act of kindness. Not with her history.

Lee, Fred and George were two years above her and judging by the stories they told, they were all pretty popular. There was still a possibility that amidst all the people they knew, all the friends they had, she would have a chance to fade into the background if she played her cards right once she was at Hogwarts. But she had a choice to make with Neville; let him sit essentially by himself for the rest of the ride, so that he would almost certainly forget her at the end of the day, or sit with him and be his friend. Really, Neville didn't seem like the type of kid who had any right to go around bullying other kids. Cadence could tell the world she was a serial killer and if she could prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't kill him, Neville would probably still be her friend.

So the choice, in the end, was pretty easy.

"Can I sit with you for a bit?" she asked.

"Of course!"

They retired to his compartment, and they chatted for a while until one of the other kids there said, "You two might want to change into your robes now; we're almost there."

"Thanks." Cathie nodded gratefully to him, then turned to Neville. "It was nice talking to you, but I should probably be getting back to my compartment. We're in the same year, right? So I'll see you in classes."

"Right," Neville confirmed, looking torn between disappointment that she was leaving and relief that she was looking forward to seeing him some more.

Cathie headed down the train until she found the compartment containing Lee, Fred and George. "Hey guys," she greeted them. "We couldn't find his toad. I hear we'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon?"

They nodded. "Oh, our robes!" George exclaimed. "We always forget until the last minute." Cathie took her robes to change in the bathroom while they changed in there, and then an announcement rang through the train as she rejoined them.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken up separately."

Cathie froze, her gaze fixing on Ninja. She was supposed to leave her cat there? Did people actually do that? She considered the situation for a moment, then unlocked the cage and told her cat, "Come get on my shoulder," which Ninja obeyed willingly.

Lee, Fred and George stared at her. Cathie realized a little late that she had just made herself even more memorable. "That's awesome," Fred and George chorused.

"But I'm afraid that's not going to work too well," Lee added regretfully. "I don't think the teachers would have a problem with it, but the first years get to Hogwarts via bumpy boat ride – and when I say bumpy, I mean bumpy. Your cat might actually fall in the lake."

"Darn. Well, thanks for telling me." Grateful and reluctant, Cathie put Ninja back in the cage, and soon the train pulled to a stop. Cathie, Lee, Fred and George left the compartment and soon lost each other in a sea of students. She found herself surrounded on a tiny, dark platform.

A lamp appeared high over everybody's heads, accompanied by a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Cathie trailed after the voice, and she caught a glimpse of Lee waving to her before they were swept off in different directions.

"Cathie?" Neville's eyes met hers, and she pushed past people to get to his side.

"Hey Neville," she greeted him. Along with the other first years, they headed down a steep, narrow path, sandwiched by thick woods.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," called the giant who was leading them, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud, "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant announced, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Cathie was pushed forward by the crowd, and soon she was separated from Neville. She ended up in a boat with another girl and two boys.

"Everyone in?" shouted the giant, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"

All the first-year-sized boats started floating off to the castle. A hushed silence fell over the group as they all gazed in awe at the magnificent castle growing nearer. Soon they reached an underground harbor of sorts, and they all climbed out of their boats and stepped amidst rocks and pebbles. "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Cathie's head shot up and she stared intently at the giant, who was inspecting each boat as it emptied.

"Trevor!" Neville shot past her like a bullet to take his toad from the giant. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after the giant's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" The giant raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	6. Welcome to Existence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie is Sorted, and meets some of her fellow first-years in her new House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for the Sorting. So, before you read, I thought I'd quickly explain my views on the Sorting. Personally, I don't think the hat's placement of you is ENTIRELY based on personality. Like, someone like Neville could never be in Slytherin, and someone like Pansy could never be in Hufflepuff. We already know that the Sorting Hat takes your opinion into consideration, but I also think it tries to guess which house you'd do best in, not necessarily which house fits you best. Which is why Neville, who quite a few people think really should've been in Hufflepuff, ends up in Gryffindor instead. That's why Cathie ends up where she does. Also, somehow I don't see Harry being the only first-year in Hogwarts to take as long as he did to get Sorted. Humans can think hundreds of thoughts in a single second, so maybe the Sorting Hat just sort of inserts thoughts from itself in your head and that's how it communicates with students and decides so fast? I dunno, that's the only thing I can think of to rationalize it. I do not own Harry Potter or Dare You to Move by Switchfoot.

Date: Monday, 1 September, 1991

Theme Song: Dare You to Move by Switchfoot

 

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face. Cathie was inexplicably reminded of her cat Thorn.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the giant informed her.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit a whole house in it, likely seeming even larger due to the far away ceiling. They faced a staircase sized proportionately to the overlarge room, and they were surrounded by flaming torches, lighting up the stone walls. The whole castle had a rather medieval feel to it. They followed Professor McGonagall into a small, empty room off the hall, past the hundreds of voices sounding from a doorway on their right - it had to be the rest of the school. Cathie wondered how they had gotten there earlier. They must not have taken the boats as the first-years had. Speaking of first-years, they had all converged into one large, crowded group, pressing much closer together than they would have under other circumstances.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall announced. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses." She launched into a short speech about the houses and their importance at Hogwarts, finishing with, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on

Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and then on the smudged nose of the red-headed boy from earlier. Intimidated, Cathie anxiously straightened her robes out a bit. "I shall return when we are ready for you," Professor McGonagall continued. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Cathie glanced around, and noticed that the three kids who'd been on her boat were there. "Do any of you know how we get sorted?"

The girl shrugged. "Beats me. I think my parents would've mentioned if it was anything I ought to prepare for, though."

"My mum says we just have to try on a hat," one of the boys said.

"Are you American?" the other asked Cathie.

She blinked. "Oh, um, yeah. I guess you can tell by my accent, huh?"

He nodded. "I was just wondering why you're going to a school in England. Do they not have in America?"

"They do have one – it's called the Salem Witches' Institute, and there's also a Salem Wizards' Institute. I was born in England, and apparently removing me from the roster would have been too long and complicated a process to bother. Personally, I'm relieved that I'm going to a co-ed school. Extended amounts of time in company made up exclusively of one gender usually don't end well."

"Odd. It kind of sucks that your family had to pay for a trip to England, though – or did they do that? I'm Dean Thomas, by the way."

"Cathie McGinley, and my family did have to pay, but it wasn't really a big deal for us."

"And you're Irish, right?" Dean turned to the other boy. "Or are you Scottish, or – "

"Irish," the boy confirmed. "My name is Seamus Finnigan."

The girl smiled. "Guess I might as well introduce myself too. The name's Daphne Greengrass."

Seamus scowled at her. "Greengrass, is it?"

Daphne scowled back, puffing her chest out defensively. "Yeah. You wanna make something of it?"

"What's wrong with being a Greengrass?" Dean inquired. Cathie wanted to know as well.

"All Greengrasses are prejudiced against muggles and muggle-borns," Seamus scoffed. "So if you two aren't pureblood, you better watch out around this one."

Cathie frowned, thinking he was a bit hypocritical. Daphne seemed to think the same. "Yeah, 'cause that's not prejudiced at all."

Seamus stared at her. "What are you talking about? What'd I say that was prejudiced?"

Before she could answer, something happened that made them all jump about a foot in the air – several people screamed.

"Holy – "

She gasped, her voice lost amongst those of the other shocked first-years surrounding her. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. The bright white, partially-transparent beings drifted along, hovering a few inches off of the stone floor. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a short, overweight monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance – "

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" The speaker, a ghost clad in a ruff and tights, had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" the Fat Friar exclaimed, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along now," a sharp voice inserted into the conversation. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," she told the first years, "and follow me."

Nervously anticipating the Sorting, Cathie got into line behind Daphne, with Dean behind her, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Cathie could never have predicted how refreshingly peculiar the place or indeed any place could be. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Cathie instinctively sought out Lee, who just happened to be sitting with Katie. Both gave her thumbs up. She heard the girl from the train, Hermione, whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. It read about it in Hogwarts, a History."

What was bewitched to look like the sky outside? Cathie immediately glanced up and started,

seeing a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Cathie quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, Cathie stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing.

 

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty

But don't judge on what you see

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me

You can keep your bowlers black

Your top hats sleek and tall

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be

You might belong in Gryffindor

Where dwell the brave at heart

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart

You might belong in Hufflepuff

Where they are just and loyal

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw

If you've a ready mind

Where those of wit and learning

Will always find their kind

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends

So put me on

Don't be afraid

And don't get in a flap

You're in safe hands

Though I have none

For I'm a Thinking Cap

 

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Cathie compared the hat's description of each house to Katie's descriptions. It certainly sounded a lot less biased, although maybe that was just to make the kids in Slytherin and Hufflepuff feel better. She wondered, now, where she would truly be. She had assumed Hufflepuff would be it for her because she wasn't evil and she didn't have any outstanding qualities like bravery or intelligence. She was pretty knowledgeable, yes, because she was a quick learner and had a good memory, but that didn't make a person truly intelligent.

But with these new descriptions in mind, she might not end up in Hufflepuff after all. In some ways, she knew that she did have nerve. She never hesitated to question anything, be it tradition, rules, or long-accepted standards. At the same time, she didn't have real bravery. She'd always been able to stand up to bullies, but that was only because she'd never had anything to lose, like, say, friends. She'd pet Shelob, but only because she wasn't afraid of spiders. She was afraid of bees, and werewolves, and heights, and the dark, and just about every else there was to be afraid of, and she definitely showed it. She was positive she had been trembling on the way from the train to the castle, and it hadn't been from

the cold. And as for chivalry, well, she tried to be chivalrous, but didn't everyone?

As far as Hufflepuff was concerned, it still seemed like a decent fit. If she had to sum herself up in one word, loyal would be a good candidate. Just was the same as chivalrous; everyone tried to be it, but not everyone fully succeeded. Cathie was no exception. And patience was something she most certainly did not have.

Meanwhile, Ravenclaw gave her pause when it came to the phrase 'ready mind.' Ready for what? Ready to learn, or ready to use what's already been learned? Cathie was always ready to learn, of course. Who wouldn't be? Yet while she was always ready to use that learning, too, that didn't mean she would use it properly. That kind of thing fell into the category of wit, which she lacked, too.

At the same time, Cathie always had used any means to achieve her ends, but the way the Sorting Hat had used those words, she wasn't sure they meant the same thing. She supposed it depended on what the ends were. Generally, Cathie's ends went towards making the world a better, happier place, and as long as the consequences of the means didn't outweigh the consequences of not achieving the ends, she would definitely use any means necessary. The problem was that she didn't always achieve the means, and it sounded like Slytherins did. In addition, she wasn't very cunning at all.

To her, it was a complete mystery where she'd go. She'd just have to wait and see.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she ordered. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause, and then – "HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Cathie saw the ghost of Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

And so it began. Cathie started zoning out a bit, but she did catch the houses of the people she knew. Seamus went to Gryffindor, then Hermione joined him, and soon after Daphne went to Slytherin. She didn't seem happy about it. A few names later and Neville was heading after Seamus and Hermione, and then Cadence's name was called – Whoa, whoa, whoa. CADENCE? Already? She must have zoned out a lot if her name was next. She paid close attention as Cadence took his seat. He took a tad longer than usual, but soon enough the hat declared, "SLYTHERIN!"

"McGinley, Cathie!"

Tense, Cathie walked forward as calmly as she could, put on the hat, and sat upon the stool.

 

"Well, this is tricky," a small voice murmured in her ear. "What shall I do with you? I could see you in any house."

(Really?)

"Ah, yes, I see a great deal of dedication to the pursuit of fairness…."

(I suppose…)

"An undeniable thirst for knowledge…."

(That is true, but if it doesn't get you anywhere, then what's the point?)

"Not to mention heaps and heaps of bravery…."

(That's just a flat-out lie.)

"And no one could possibly say that you lack cunning…."

(Yes, they definitely could and have many, many times.)

"Would you be quiet? Those self-esteem issues of yours ought to land you in Hufflepuff without a second thought!"

(No way! This hat can hear what I'm thinking?)

"Your chances of being placed in Ravenclaw are dwindling by the second."

(Okay, well, if you're listening, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't put me in Slytherin.)

"And why ever not? As a matter of fact, that is what I was leaning towards."

(If you can hear my thoughts, surely you can see how awful it would be for me to be in the same house as Cadence.)

"Hmm… That's a very good point, wouldn't want you to suffer in your new house…. Very well, you've convinced me. But which of the other three would you fair best in?"

(Beats me.)

"Fat lot of help you are. Alright, let me think…. I'm afraid you are not very patient, nor are you terribly placid, which makes me think Gryffindor might be the way to go, yet you're not stubborn enough to be in Gryffindor. You're definitely not egotistical enough for Ravenclaw, so not Ravenclaw, then. Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff… Are you sure you wouldn't rather be in Slytherin?"

(YES.)

"They're not as mean as they look, I swear."

(One of them is.)

"Spoilsport. Oh, fine, fine, I guess I'll go with GRYFFINDOR!"

 

Cathie heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. She took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table, relieved that she hadn't been put in Slytherin. She took a seat with Neville and Hermione, who both beamed at her. The ghost she'd seen earlier with the ruff patted her arm, giving her the sudden, horrible feeling she'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.

She could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest to her sat Hagrid, the giant who'd led the fleet of first years to Hogwarts. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Cathie recognized him at once from a Chocolate Frog card George had showed her on the train. Professor Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. One professor was looking very peculiar in a large, purple turban.

Cathie watched as the rest of the students were sorted, one by one. Harry Potter, the boy who had apparently vanquished one of the most powerful wizards ever as an infant, was indeed in her year, and was sorted into Gryffindor. He was getting the loudest cheer yet. A red-headed, freckled prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while Fred and George yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down next to Cathie, and the ghost patted his arm, too. Dean sat down across from her next, and then another red-headed, freckled boy, whose name was apparently Ron Weasley, sat down next to him.

Cathie looked down at her empty gold plate, and tried to remember when last she had eaten. After all, sweets weren't very filling, and she'd only eaten maybe two thirds of what she'd bought

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. "Welcome!" he greeted them. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Cathie didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he – a bit mad?" Harry asked the prefect uncertainly.

"Mad?" the prefect echoed airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes." He proceeded to offer Harry some potatoes.

Cathie's mouth fell open as the dishes in front of her filled with food. She had never seen so many things to eat on one table; roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and for some reason, peppermint humbugs. She piled a bit of chicken, sausage, potatoes and fries onto her plate.

"That does look good," the ghost in the ruff remarked sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you – "

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," the ghost explained. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. "My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy – " the ghost began stiffly, but Seamus interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like this," he snapped irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Sir Nicholas flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."

Cathie looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was sitting between a pale, blond-haired kid and Cadence, the latter of which, she was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" Seamus asked with great interest.

"I've never asked," Sir Nicholas stated delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plats, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding….

As Cathie helped herself to an apple pie, the talk turned to their families. "I'm half-and-half," Seamus informed them. "Me dad's a muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch till after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

Everyone laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" Ron inquired.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," Neville started, "but the family thought I was all-muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of the Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad. What about you, Cathie?"

"I'm muggle-born," Cathie answered. "But I do have one magic relative – my twin, Cadence."

"Really?" Ron frowned. "I didn't think that kind of thing happened. That's weird. Anyway, which house is he in? Obviously not Gryffindor…."

"Slytherin."

Ron stared at her, his eyes wide. "Man, that sucks. For you, I mean. Living with a Slytherin's gotta be tough. Odd that a muggle-born ended up in Slytherin. I didn't think that happened either."

Cathie shrugged. "I'm sure it's like living with any sibling," she hedged, not wanting to draw attention to her relationship with her brother. "Anyway, what about you?" She already knew, but she was trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I'm a pureblood," Ron announced, and then he launched into a description of his family.

They continued talking about those things until at last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. "Ahem – just have a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His twinkling eyes flashed towards Fred and George. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Cathie laughed, but she was one of the few who did. Frowning, she turned to Neville. "Do you suppose he's serious?"

Neville shrugged, looking unnerved. "Best stay away from that place, just to be safe."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Professor Dumbledore cried. He gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

 

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

Teach us something please

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff

For now they're bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff

So teach us thing worth knowing

Bring back what we've forgot

Just do your best, we'll do the rest

And learn until our brains all rot

 

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only Fred and George were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Professor Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and once they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest. "Ah, music," he sighed, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed the red-headed, freckled prefect through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Though her classmates were all sleepy, Cathie found herself absolutely wide awake. She watched in surprise as they passed portraits that whispered and pointed, and doorways that were hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed and climbed and climbed the staircases, and Cathie was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as the prefect took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him. "Peeves," he whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice. "Peeves – show yourself."

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. "Oooooooh!" he whooped, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" the prefect barked.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks above Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed. Alarmed, Cathie shoved Neville out of the way, then felt the walking sticks land on her head. "Ouch," she commented, rubbing her head. Then she realized the other first years were all staring at her. Oh, no. So much for not drawing attention to herself.

Neville was staring at her in amazement. "Thanks," he muttered, suddenly looking away shyly.

Cathie's heart raced as she tried to figure out a good way to blow this off. "No problem. They weren't nearly as hard as they looked. Maybe they were ghost walking sticks."

"You want to watch out for Peeves," the prefect informed them all, oblivious, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she requested.

"Caput Draconis," the prefect obliged, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it – Cathie had to give Neville a leg up – and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. The prefect directed the boys through one door to their dormitory and the girls through another, so Cathie and Neville said their goodnights. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last; four four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks and Ninja (apparently she was the only one with a pet) had already been brought up. The girls didn't talk much, since the others were far too tired, so they simply pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.

Cathie made sure to refill Ninja's food and water with cat food from her trunk and water from the bathroom sink before pulling out a book to read before bed.


	7. My Turn to FLy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie grows accustomed to Hogwarts and discovers just how house placement affects people's views of you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, so, SO sorry that this came out a week late! Long story short, my family went to FL for a wedding about two weeks ago via plane, we were planning to drive a car back up but then my mom's company paid her SUPER late and we didn't have gas money to get back up till they did, so we ended up only getting home a week ago and I sort of forgot the week in Florida actually happened. I only just realized this wasn't on time. Again, SUPER sorry! I do not own Harry Potter or Beautiful Day by Michael Buble. Minor cursing.

Date: Thursday, 12 September, 1991

Theme Song: Beautiful Day by Michael Bublé

Hogwarts was absolutely insane. Cathie had never been surer of something. For one, it was incredibly annoying how so many people seemed to hero-worship Harry. Since she was cursed with being in the same house and year as him, the nine first year Gryffindors ended up traveling from class to class pretty close to each other. Therefore, there were almost always people around. At least Cathie wasn't the famous one – that would have sucked.

If that wasn't enough, some days it seemed like the Hogwarts castle itself was conspiring to get on her nerves. Some of the staircases led somewhere different on a Friday. Others had a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. And then there were the doors, some refusing to open until you ask politely, others refusing to open until you tickle them in just the right place. On top of all that, the walls greatly enjoyed pretending to be doors. And when Cathie had decided to start trying to find her way by using the portraits and coats of armor as landmarks, she had discovered that the people in portraits could simply walk out of them at will, and she would swear that those coats of armor walked around when no one was looking. It was really cool that the castle seemed to have some semblance of sentience, but it could also be really irritating.

And, of course, you couldn't forget the ghosts. Sir Nicholas was very nice to her, although that could be because she was one of the few who didn't refer to him as Nearly Headless Nick. In any case, he was always happy to point her and Neville in the right direction. Peeves was definitely another story. Coming across Peeves was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastebaskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" It was a relief when Cathie and Neville came across Lee, Fred, George, or some combination of the three, because not only they were apparently experts when it came to shortcuts and secret passageways, but they were also almost friends with Peeves, and he seemed to respect them enough that he would allow them and those accompanying them safe passage. This was ironic, because Lee, Fred and George were the most mischievous, trouble-making students at Hogwarts, yet Peeves respected them, whereas he had no respect for the prefect from the first night (who she later discovered was Fred and George's brother Percy) or indeed any of the prefects.

Another demon of Hogwarts was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Within their first week, Cathie and Neville had already gotten on his bad side when he discovered them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure that they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

Filch owned a cat named Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp-like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except Lee, Fred and George, obviously) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. As a cat-lover, Cathie couldn't say she'd go that far, but she certainly did not like that mongrel.

The first class the first year Gryffindors had was Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, and the first year Hufflepuffs. By their third class, they were learning about a flower called Moly, which was used as a potion ingredient. They had two more classes that day, Charms and History of Magic. Professor Flitwick taught Charms, and that first week they were introduced to Lumos, the wand-lighting charm. History of Magic was taught by a ghost named Professor Binns, who immediately dove into a discussion of famous wizards from the middle ages. Professor Binns had the rather remarkable ability to bore the students even more than books, and for quite a few of the students, that was saying something. First thing the morning after was Defense Against the Dark Arts, often shorted to DADA, taught by first-time teacher Professor Quirrell. He also started by teaching them the wand-lighting charm.

Following that was Transfiguration. The woman who had led them inside Hogwarts that first night and held the Sorting Ceremony turned out to be Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House. She was the professor of Transfiguration, and she gave them a decent-length lecture on the subject the second they were all in their seats. She was very stern, but she had a matter-of-factness about her that Cathie liked. Their first lesson was on turning matches into needles, though only Hermione got very far at all, and before that they had to take lots of complicated notes. On Wednesday at midnight was their Astronomy class, taught by Professor Sinistra, revolving around stars and planets. Finally, on Friday came their Potions class, which both excited and disappointed Cathie. She had been expecting great things from the class, since she loved to cook so much and potion-making sounded very, very similar. The potion-making itself had fulfilled its expectations and then some; Cathie suspected it would soon be her favorite class regardless of the nasty, biased teacher. Which, of course, was the disappointment; the class was taught by the nasty, biased Professor Snape, who was not only extremely partial to the Slytherins since he was the Head of Slytherin House, but also incredibly cruel to Harry for no reason. That definitely took some of the fun out of potions.

Cathie woke up on Thursday to the sound of Hermione's voice saying, "Finite Incantatem."

"Thanks, Mione," she yawned, as she did every morning. "Man, I don't know what I'd do without you. Wake everyone up five times a night, I guess."

She had a habit of talking in her sleep loudly, and often, so she'd spent lots of time during those two weeks in London practicing the Silencing Charm. It was a fifth-year spell, but Cathie had dedicated herself, and soon became decent at it. It wore off after about twenty-four hours, so a few poor birds had suffered for a bit, but it had no lasting damage. Lucky for her, she had a roommate who'd picked out all the really important spells (such as Finite Incantatem, which undid most other spells) that wouldn't be covered till late in the year or next year and practiced them independently, and Hermione had been willing to undo the Silencing Charm every morning.

"Today is our first Flying class," Hermione told her as Cathie moved to the bathroom to change. Their roommates Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were already down at breakfast. "Are you as nervous as I am?"

"Oh, totally," Cathie laughed. "I couldn't be much more nervous if I tried." Though she'd been pretty successful in keeping her distance from everyone, she had failed in a few cases. One of them was Hermione; the girl was nothing if not persistent, and desperate for friends. Cathie had been unable to push her away.

They climbed down the staircase together in time to hear Ron and Dean arguing fiercely over Quidditch versus football for the fiftieth time that week. "Honestly, you two, can't you lay off each other?" Hermione commented impatiently.

"Mind your own business," Ron snapped irritably. He turned back to Dean. "I still say you're nutters. There're no broomsticks! Why play a sport where you can't fly? Where's the fun in that?"

Don't involve yourself. Don't involve yourself. "There's plenty of fun in it!" Way to not involve yourself. Cathie glared determinedly. "I'll have you know that just because you've never tried it doesn't mean it's pointless. I guarantee running is just as fun as flying, so obviously a game that revolves around running is just as fun as a game that revolves around flying."

"But there's only one ball!"

"That's what makes football better than Quidditch," Dean insisted. "Quidditch is so freaking complicated."

"But – "

"Sorry, mate, you're out-numbered." Harry patted Ron on the back sympathetically. "Let it go. Just let it go. C'mon, let's go get some breakfast." He winked at Cathie as Ron's mood suddenly grew cheerier and he dashed off out of the common room. Cathie grinned back at him as he followed his friend.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked.

"Nah. Neville wanted to meet in the common room today. It's the nerves, probably. Not that I mind – actually, I'm positively relieved that he brought it up."

Hermione shrugged. "Okay. See you!"

She left the common room, and a few seconds later, Neville came bounding down from the boys' dormitory, and he and Cathie made their way to breakfast. "I still can't believe we're having Flying lessons with the Slytherins," she commented crossly. "Now we share two classes with them? Why couldn't it just be with Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw? We don't share any classes with Ravenclaw."

Neville nodded sympathetically. "I know, right? At least you've got that twin in Slytherin. He seems nice enough."

Cathie winced. "Yeah, sure." For now, she wouldn't deny it. Cadence had been laying low for a while, but she was positive that it wouldn't last. Any day now he would begin spreading rumors as he did every time she gained a tiny bit of popularity – and he was good at both coming up with rumors and spreading them. He would spread one at a time, until everyone who used to like her had stopped. If Neville and maybe Hermione clung to her long enough, he'd give up at some point, but that was a very rare case.

They reached the Gryffindor table, where Neville went to sit with the other first years. Cathie moved to join him, but Katie popped up at her side for the first time since school had begun. "Hey, Cathie," she greeted her. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to sit with me and my friends today? Most of them are already on the Quidditch team, and I know that your first Flying class is today, so they could give you some tips."

Cathie blinked in surprise. "Oh, um…." She hesitated. She really would rather not get close to more people than necessary, but how could she get out of this. "Sorry, maybe another time. My friend, Neville, is really nervous about the class. I should probably sit with him today." Victory!

"Well, in that case, maybe he could sit with us too."

Or not. "Sure, thanks! I'll go ask him if he's alright with that." She ran over to Neville and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Neville, an upper-year I know offered to let us eat breakfast with her and her friends so that they could give us some tips for later. Most of them are on the Quidditch team, you see. What do you say?" He's way too shy. He'll say no for sure.

"Yeah, that sounds great! I could definitely use it."

Or not. "Okay, come on."

Cathie, Neville and Katie made their way to a section of the table that seemed mostly comprised of third years. "Hey, you don't mind if these two sit with us today, do you?" Her friends happened to be Lee, Fred and George, in addition to two other girls Cathie hadn't met yet. They were unanimously agreeable, so Cathie and Neville sat down. "I was thinking you might give them some pointers on flying, since you lot are experts. Er, most of you. Sorry Lee."

"Whatever," Lee grunted. "You're not on the team either. I don't mind."

"She will be by tomorrow," one of the girls declared. "There's no way Oliver'll choose someone over her. She's fantastic at Quidditch. There are two openings on the team," she added for Cathie and Neville's benefit.

"Well, Alicia was a reserve last year, so she's more likely to get a spot than I am," Katie rationalized.

"I repeat: two openings. Unless Alicia is suddenly two people, I fail to see how her being on the team will interfere with you being on the team. Anyway, I'm Angelina," the girl told Cathie and Neville, "and this is Alicia, Geor-"

"She already knows us three, Angie," George interrupted. "She sat with us on the train. What do you say, Fred? Shall we contribute to young Cathie and Neville's training, or stay out of it and watch them fall off their brooms later? It does sound like great fun."

"Nah." Fred grinned. "If we did that, Ron might think that we like him as much as we like them. Can't let that happen. He asked us for advice, but we really would rather watch him fall off his broom," he announced cheekily.

At that point, a barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it up excitedly and showed her a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things – this'll tell you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it right like this and if it turns red – oh…," His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "…you've forgotten something…."

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when some blond Slytherin boy, Cathie thought his name was Draco Malfoy, passed the Gryffindor table, accompanied by Cadence and two other humongous Slytherin boys. Malfoy snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hand.

All students sitting with him jumped up, some of them with their hands already on their wands, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. "What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," Neville voiced.

Scowling, Malfoy hastily dropped the Remembrall back on the table. "Just looking," he muttered, and he sloped away with Cadence and the other two behind him.

Cathie scowled at their retreating backs. "Hey, that was your brother, wasn't it?" Lee commented. "I recognize him from the Sorting Ceremony. Funny that he ended up as one of Malfoy's goons – as far as I know, Malfoys never willingly associate with muggle-borns."

"Muggle-borns?" Alicia frowned. "I heard that he was a half-blood."

"That'd be kind of difficult, seeing as he's Cathie's twin and she's a muggle-born." Lee frowned, and Cathie sighed. Not the usual route Cadence went with trying to make her look bad, but then again, nothing about that school was usual. Now the seven students she was sitting with would be wondering why she had told them she was muggle-born, for even when she was telling the truth and he wasn't, Cadence was always more convincing than she was.

But then something amazing happened. Katie slung an arm over her shoulder and shrugged. "Guess he didn't want to be ostracized in his new house."

Cathie blinked, surprised. Was Katie saying what Cathie thought she was saying? "So you believe me, then?"

"'Course I do. Slytherins are always lying," Angelina laughed, as if this was obvious. "He is lying, right?"

"Of course. I have no reason to lie about my blood status." Cathie stared intensely at the eggs on her plate as she tried to comprehend what was happening. For one of the first times in her life, someone had believed her story over Cadence's. Just because he was a Slytherin and she was a Gryffindor.

She took it back. She loved Hogwarts.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Cathie, Neville, and the other Gryffindor first years hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first Flying class. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. The second years had all complained about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Cathie glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Cathie's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Cathie and Neville were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," Madam Hooch directed them. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two – "

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.  
"Come back, boy!" she ordered, but Neville was rising up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet.

"Neville!" Cathie gasped, alarmed, her feet tensing and relaxing and tensing again as she hovered on the precipice of trying to fly up there to rescue him herself. She eventually relinquished the idea, as it was preposterous; she had no idea how to fly. She saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, saw him slide sideways off the broom and – she dropped the broom and ran – WHAM. She'd never had a chance of reaching him in time. A thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the Forbidden Forest and out of sight.

Cathie kneeled beside him as Madam Hooch bent over, both their faces as white as his. "Broken wrist," she heard the teacher mutter. "Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get. You, girl, go on and go back to your place." She reluctantly obliged as Madam Hooch turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in – including Cadence.

Anger boiled up in Cathie. Emboldened by what she'd learned earlier, she stepped forward. "You leave him alone!"

"Yeah, shut up, Malfoy," Parvati agreed.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" sneered Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati. You don't surprise me, McGinley."

There was no doubt in Cathie's mind why that was. She glared resentfully at Cadence, who smirked at her.

"Look!" Malfoy jeered, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Everyone stopped to watch. Cathie moved closer to him, ready to back him up if need be.

Malfoy smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find – how about – up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. For a first year, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak, he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"No," shouted Hermione. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble."

"'Cause Malfoy hasn't done that already," Cathie retorted, shooting the girl a look. "If Harry doesn't, I will, that's for sure." Hermione stared at her open-mouthed, looking shocked that Cathie would agree with Harry over her.

Harry mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and Parvati and Lavender screamed and gasped as Ron whooped admiringly. He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. The prat looked stunned. Cathie could see their lips moving and hear voices, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. She ran under Malfoy, just in case he dropped it. All of a sudden, Malfoy threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back down. Enraged, blood pounding in her ears, Cathie stomped toward him. "If you think I'm not going straight to Madam Hooch and telling her that you not only disobeyed her, but also stole another student's property, then you have another think coming."

"See?" Cadence shook his head. "I told you she was a tattletale. Why don't you just mind your own business?"

The Slytherins jeered at her, but Cathie remained firm, determined to hold her ground, and soon enough the Gryffindors swarmed around her, just as firm and determined. "Some people deserve to be tattled on," Dean insisted. "And if she needs proof, we'll all be witnesses."

"What makes you think she'll believe you?" Cadence challenged.

"Please," Ron snickered. "As if anyone would ever believe a Slytherin over a Gryffindor. Clearly you don't know how things work around here, which is natural, since you're a muggle-born."

"I don't know who told you that," Cadence snapped. "I'm a half-blood. My dad is a wizard. I wouldn't listen to that one. She doesn't know what honesty is."

"Yeah, right." Seamus rolled his eyes. "Like Ron said, no one would ever believe a Slytherin over a Gryffindor. Nice try."

"Besides, I don't know how you'd know if our dad was a wizard or not, seeing as we haven't seen him in four years," Cathie shot back at him.

"Well, maybe you haven't," Cadence scoffed, surprise still in his eyes at the lack of reaction to his accusation. "Why would he want to spend time with you? You're the reason he left to begin with."

At that moment, a shriek of, "HARRY POTTER!" filled the air, and all the students turned to watch as Professor McGonagall ran across the lawn toward Harry, who seemed to be just landing. Really, if he'd stayed in the air after Malfoy had thrown the Remembrall, it was his own stupid fault – except – was that the Remembrall in his hands? How on earth had he caught it? "Never – in all my time at Hogwarts – " Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "how dare you – might have broken your neck – "

"It was all Malfoy's fault, Professor – " Cathie began earnestly, but she was immediately cut off.

"Be quiet, Miss McGinley – "

"But Malfoy – " Ron tried to aid her, but he too was cut off.

"That's enough, Mister Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

Cathie watched in despair as he was led away to the castle. Then she turned, and felt an intense urge to punch the triumph off of Malfoy and his goons' faces, including Cadence's. "Don't think this changes anything," she bit out, clenching her fists. "If he's going home on that train tonight, I will not rest until you're out of here too."

"Then I'm afraid you won't be resting until summer." Malfoy smirked. "My father's a very important man,"

"By that, he means his father's loaded," Ron muttered bitterly.

Cathie's smirk rivaled Malfoy's, and even he seemed surprised at that. "Oh, is that what that means? Well, I'm afraid you don't know who you're messing with, kid. Guarantee my mom's mountain of money would make your dad's look like an ant hill." She snickered at the astonished expression on his face, then spotted it on everyone else's. This Malfoy kid must be really loaded, then – but Cathie was really loaded too.

Before Malfoy could gather his wits – What wits? – Madam Hooch returned. "Alright, I hope you lot have been sticking to the ground."

The class snickered as one. Madam Hooch looked around suspiciously. Then Cathie remembered herself. "Madam Hooch," she called out, taking in Malfoy's alarmed expression. Clearly the idiot hadn't thought she'd actually go through with it. "Not all of us have been sticking to the ground."

"Should've known," Madam Hooch commented, rolling her eyes. "Alright, who is it?"

"Malfoy, ma'am. Neville's Remembrall fell out of his robes. Malfoy picked it up, flew into the sky, and threw it." Cathie hesitated, then plunged forward, deciding that she certainly couldn't make Harry's situation any worse. "Harry flew up after him and caught the Remembrall."

Malfoy looked so outraged it was comical. Madam Hooch did, too. "My word! Class is dismissed for today. Mister Malfoy, please come with me. We shall be having a word with your Head of House." Madam Hooch grabbed Malfoy by the arm and practically dragged him off. Cathie waved goodbye. His face was murderous, and promised dreadful things to come. But today, Cathie couldn't find it in herself to care about the consequences.


	8. They Haven't Got a Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie and Neville discover a new friend in the oddest of places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this chapter as separate from its cannon counterpart as possible, but please let me know if you think there's something I should have done differently. Sorry it's a few hours late - time got away from me, I didn't realize it was already so far past midnight. I should warn you ahead of time that there might be a month to a month and a half break between the end of this year and the beginning of second year. I had most of this story already written before I started posting and I've been trying to write as fast as I post, but it hasn't been working, so I think I'll need a bit of a break at the end of Take a Stand to catch up. I do not own Harry Potter or Cool Kids by Echosmith.

Date: Thursday, 31 October, 1991

Theme Song: Cool Kids by Echosmith

Cathie checked on Neville before dinner, and the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, told her he'd be fine by curfew. Relieved, Cathie sat in the common room waiting, and watched, worried, as one by one, everyone retired to their dorms. First Katie, then Lee offered to wait up with her, but she declined, telling them he should be back soon. Half past eleven, Lee returned. "Are you sure you should stay up this late?" he asked uncertainly. "After all, we have class tomorrow, and it's entirely possible that Madam Pomfrey decided to keep him another night."

Cathie considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I'll only stay up another hour and a half. Then I'll go up. That should be enough sleep."

"Seven hours is enough sleep?"

"Yeah, of course it is." Cathie smirked. "Clearly you've never experienced the wonder that is staying up for twenty-four hours straight."

Lee gave her a disbelieving look, then shrugged. "Fine. If it's enough for you, it's enough for me." He plopped down next to her on the sofa. "I'm staying up with you, and that's final. You're not going to change my mind."

Cathie grinned at him. She was glad she didn't have to ostracize herself; Lee seemed like he would make a good friend. Fred, George and Katie, too. And it was definitely nice to be able to interact with her classmates without fearing getting too close. She was already making friends with Dean, Parvati, Seamus and Lavender. As a matter of fact, the only classmates she didn't like were Harry and Ron, because Ron was really almost as bad as Cadence when it came to Hermione and Harry, as Ron's best friend, ought to be doing something to stop it. Maybe she was expecting too much of him, but if she'd had a friend like that, she would never have stood for that sort of thing. Honestly, her twin brother had tormented her for four long years, and she had still stood up to him when his bullying turned to others.

Within seconds of Lee's arrival, Hermione popped downstairs too, donning a pink bathrobe. She blinked in surprise. "Oh, what are you two doing down here?"

"Waiting for Neville," Cathie explained. "You?"

Hermione shuffled uncomfortably. "Oh, um, couldn't sleep."

Really, Hermione? That's the most convincing you can be? No wonder you aren't a Slytherin. "Maybe you could sit with us for a bit," Cathie suggested, disregarding her misgivings.

Hermione gave her an uncertain look. "Are you sure Neville's coming back tonight? It's a little late for that. He'll probably be back tomorrow sometime."

"No, Madam Pomfrey said he'll be back tonight. I won't stay up too late, though, just until one."

"Er, isn't that too late?"

Before Cathie could explain that no, it really wasn't to her, two figures made their way down from the boys' dormitories. Harry and Ron froze on the staircase like deer in a headlight. "Um, uh, we were just…"

"…having trouble sleeping?" Lee guessed, his eyebrows raised. "Come on, spill."

"Those two are planning to go duel Malfoy tonight!" Hermione blurted out.

Cathie grimaced. He must've bribed his way out of expulsion, the git. She exchanged grimaces with Lee, then shrugged in sync with him. "Best of luck to you two, then. Please maim him a bit for me."

Hermione shot her a shocked, almost betrayed look, making Cathie rather regret speaking. Harry and Ron sniggered at Hermione's expression and continued on their way out, but Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed them through the portrait hole, ranting and raving. "Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away," was Ron's rather creative and articulate comeback. That was the last thing Cathie heard before the portrait shut. She and Lee shot amused smirks at each other.

It wasn't until they were just about to go upstairs that four students scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. "Seems like you guys had a fun night," Cathie observed, taking in the pale faces of Neville, Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Anyone care to tell me what happened?"

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again. "What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron voiced finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" Hermione snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something." She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open. "No, we don't mind," he commented, sounding bewildered. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"

"So what happened tonight?" Cathie pressed, gazing around at them all in bewilderment.

"Malfoy set them up and Filch came looking so we hid in the forbidden third floor corridor and there was a three-headed dog!" Neville blurted out. "And it was huge!"

Harry and Ron glared at him. "What'd you tell her that for?" Ron grumbled. "She doesn't need to know that we hid there."

Neville stared back, flabbergasted. "But she's my best friend. Of course I told her. Why wouldn't I tell her?"

Cathie blinked, caught off-guard, then smiled. She rather liked the idea of being Neville's best friend.

Nothing new happened until Halloween. Cathie sighed sadly as she and Neville headed to Charms class. Halloween had always been her family's favorite holiday, and this was going to be the first time she hadn't been with them for it.

Professor Flitwick paired Neville with Lavender and Cathie with Dean, so they had to separate. She glanced around to see who Hermione's partner was, and realized with a wince that Hermione had ended up with Ron, of all people. Hermione had been decidedly unfriendly with Ron and Harry ever since the whole dueling fiasco, and while her relationship with Cathie wasn't unfriendly, it certainly wasn't friendly anymore either. Cathie rather wished she hadn't run into the three that day. She would have much preferred to stay out of the whole thing.

They were going to try levitating things that day. "Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

The class proceeded with very little progression. The feathers they were supposed to be sending skyward did not move from their positions on the desks. Only Seamus managed to do something, but seeing as that something was setting the feather on fire, it wasn't exactly a positive thing.

"You're doing it wrong," Cathie heard Hermione snap at Ron. "It's Wingardium Leviosa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled back.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick cried, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Impressed, Cathie turned to her and Dean's feather and incanted, "Wingardium Leviosa," emphasizing the 'gar' and the 'o' just as Hermione had instructed. The feather feebly lifted a few inches off the desk.

"Cool!" Dean exclaimed. "How'd you do it?"

"I just said it the way Hermione said it." Hermione looked up and beamed at her. Cathie felt relieved; maybe Hermione would be less upset with her now.

Ron seemed to be in a very bad mood by the end of class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Cathie caught him muttering to Harry as the group of Gryffindors pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Tearing up, Hermione hurried past them, knocking into Harry on her way by.

Furious, Cathie grabbed Ron by the shoulder to stop him and faced him. "Just because you couldn't get it right doesn't mean you have to take it out on the girl who did! And you might have noticed that you two are the only ones who can't stand her – although even so, you don't see Harry making rude comments about her!" Cathie stormed off after Hermione, Neville in tow.

"Hermione, don't listen to him," she urged her friend. "Ron's just jealous of you because you're so much better at this stuff than he is. I love spending time with you."

"So do I," Neville piped up behind her.

Hermione smiled at them, wiping her eyes. "Thanks, guys."

"You have to ignore those kinds of people." Cathie turned to see Daphne Greengrass watching them. "There's a boy just like that Ron in my house. A stupid, arrogant boy who thinks he knows everything."

"Malfoy?" Cathie, Neville and Hermione guessed in unison.

Daphne grinned. "No – worse, actually, if you'll believe it. Only to me, though, I think. He torments me whenever he gets the chance."

Hermione walked away, and Cathie, Neville and Daphne made to follow her when Malfoy and his evil minions showed up. Yet it wasn't Malfoy who began the insults – no, it was the one and only Cadence McGinley. "And when we thought you could sink no further, Greengrass. Comforting a muggle-born? The very thought disgusts me. Of course, I suppose you must sympathize with her. Why, the only difference between the two of you is that Granger has a few friends, whereas you? Zilch."

Now Daphne was starting to tear up. Before Cathie could defend her, Daphne ran away crying. "Daphne, wait!" Neville shouted, but the Slytherin girl kept going.

"You don't seriously support that 'blood purity' propaganda, do you? I know that you've been running around telling everyone that we're half-bloods, but you can't deny that our mother is definitely a muggle." Cathie rolled her eyes.

Cadence scowled. "Which is why you always got along better with our mother and I always got along better with our father, who's a pureblood."

"Yeah, well, he walked out on both of us, remember? How can you say that the father who abandons his kids is a better parent than the mother who stayed?"

"Actually, he didn't abandon both of us." Cadence puffed out his chest. "He left because he couldn't stand being around someone as weak as you."

I was seven, Cathie thought incredulously.

"And he's been sending me letters ever since. He never abandoned me, just you. How does that make you feel?"

Cathie sighed. "Like I have a self-delusional idiot for a brother. Right, this conversation is pointless. If I haven't gotten common sense through to you in the eleven years we've known each other, I probably never will. Goodbye, Cadence, Malfoy, evil henchman one, evil henchman two." She nodded to each person, and she and Neville headed to Transfiguration.

They didn't have Flying that day, since it was Halloween, so from there the first-year Gryffindors went straight to dinner. On their way down to the Great Hall, Cathie and Neville overheard Parvati telling Lavender that there was some Slytherin girl crying in the girls' bathroom, and exchanged uneasy glances. Cathie wished there was something she could do to help Daphne's situation, but they were in two different houses.

The two friends gasped in amazement at the unbelievable Halloween decorations, which put Cathie's homesickness right out of her mind. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Cathie was just helping herself to some roast beef when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew, terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Cathie asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid." Neville shrugged. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Neville suddenly grabbed Cathie's arm. "I've just thought – Daphne."

Cathie blinked. "Oh. Oh my god – Daphne!" She took a deep breath to calm herself. She could not panic. She had to think. She had to think. She could not think for the life of her. Her heart raced as she tried desperately to figure out a reason why Daphne might not be in the bathroom still, but she hadn't seen the girl during dinner at all, and where else would she have gone from the bathroom? Cathie grimaced as she realized what had to come next. "Neville, you stay here. I'll be right back. I'm going after Daphne."

Neville stared at her in horror and awe and terror, and with one last look at her friend, she ducked down and joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way. She slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. She had just turned the corner when she heard quick footsteps behind her. "Percy!" she muttered, lunging behind a stone griffin. Peering around it, however, she saw not Percy but Professor Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

What's he doing? she wondered, curious despite herself. Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?

She was about to leave the safety of her hiding place when she heard some more quick footsteps. This time, it would be Percy for sure….

"Cathie? Where are you?" No, still not Percy. Instead it was Neville, scuttling down and hissing her name hopefully.

Cathie stepped out from behind the griffin. "Neville! What are you doing? It's dangerous here! You should go back to Gryffindor Tower."

Neville straightened his shoulders. "Why is it dangerous for me but not for you?" Cathie blinked, not seeing where he was going with that. "I'm coming with you. I want to make sure you don't get too hurt. I know that's not really possible, since we're two first years up against a troll, but maybe this way I can take some of the hits you'd be taking and so the damage will be spread out and – "

Impulsively, Cathie hugged him tightly, which surprised both of them. It had been a very long time since she had initiated a hug with someone she hadn't known for at least a year. She felt happier than ever before; happier than when she found out she wouldn't be bullied at this school, happier than when she first met Kaylyn, happier than the day her mother had gotten a new job that would give them running water and electricity and make them feel like actual human beings. She knew that she would never find nor deserve a friend as brave and true as Neville.

"Come on," she told him, pulling away. "We have to go save Daphne."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor. Neville paused, and held his hand up to stop her. "Can you smell something?"

Cathie sniffed, and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it – a low grunting, and the shuffling of gigantic feet. Neville pointed – at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, and its great, lumpy body was like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs, as thick as tree trunks, with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which was dragging along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room. "The key's in the lock," Neville muttered.

"We could lock it in."

"No," Cathie muttered back, a feeling of dread rising up in her. "Bad idea. That's the girls' bathroom."

Neville stared at her, disbelieving, then stared at the door, reluctant. "Of course it is…."

It was then that they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream.

"Daphne!" Without hesitation, Neville plunged right into the bathroom, and Cathie dashed after him.

Daphne was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Cathie urged Neville desperately. Seizing a tap, she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Daphne. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Cathie. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Hey, you!" Neville yelled from the other side of the chamber, throwing a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Neville instead, giving Cathie time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" she begged Daphne, trying to pull her toward the door, but the Slytherin couldn't move; she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Neville, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Cathie then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: She took a great running jump and managed to fasten her arms around the troll's neck from behind. As she jumped, her wand slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, but Daphne suddenly lurched forward to catch it. She hesitated, then tossed it back up to Cathie, who caught it and promptly, in a moment of spontaneity, wedged it up the troll's nose.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Cathie clinging on for dear life. Any second, the troll was going to rip her off or deal her a terrible blow with the club. Neville had sunk to the floor in fright. Daphne suddenly gasped as if struck by inspiration before drawing her wand and shouting, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Cathie wasn't sure what Daphne had been trying to accomplish with that, but it did indeed accomplish... something. The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high into the air, turned slowly over, and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Cathie got to her feet, shaky and breathless. Dahpne was standing there with her wand still raised, staring at what she had done. It was Neville who spoke first.

"Is it – dead?"

"I don't think so," Cathie voiced. "I think it's just been knocked out." She bent down and pulled her wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue. "Ugh – troll boogers." She wiped it on the troll's trousers. "Only at Hogwarts," she remarked. Neville and Daphne offered feeble smiles.

"Sorry," Neville muttered. "I - I came to help, but I only got in the way."

"Better than me," Daphne pointed out. "I may have knocked it out, but it's my fault we ended up here in the first place. Besides, you really didn't get in the way, and you did help distract it."

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had burst into the room, closely followed by Professor Snape, with Professor Quirrell bringing up the rear. Professor Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Professor Snape bent over the troll. Proessor McGonagall was looking at Cathie and Neville. Cathie had never seen her look so angry – her lips were white. "What on earth were you thinking of?" she demanded, with cold fury in her voice. Cathie looked at Daphne, whose wand was still in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Professor Snape gave Cathie and Neville a swift, piercing look. They looked at the floor, and Daphne slowly put away her wand. Then she straightened her shoulders and said in a quiet but firm voice, "Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."

Professor Snape's gaze snapped towards her. "Miss Greengrass!"

"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them. If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Cathie stuck her wand up its nose and Neville distracted it so I could levitate the club and knock it out. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived." Cathie and Neville tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

"Well – in that case…" Professor McGonagall murmured, staring at the three of them.

"Miss Greengrass," Professor Snape interrupted harshly, "you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Daphne hung her head. "Five points will be taken from Slytherin for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to your common room. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses." Daphne left, and Professor Snape glanced first at the two Gryffindors, then at Professor McGonagall. "They're all yours, Minerva." He left, too.

Professor McGonagall turned to Cathie and Neville. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than ten points," Cathie grumbled.

"At least Slytherin lost five," Neville pointed out optimistically.

"It was nice of her to get us out of trouble like that," Cathie admitted.

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Um…." Neville looked to Cathie.

"Pig snout," she said to the Fat Lady, and they entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. When she saw them, she pulled them both into fierce hugs, then glared at them. "Where were you?" she snapped. "I was so worried! What were you thinking, running off like that when there was a troll running around? I've never heard of anything so reckless and irresponsible and – "

"Ease up, Mione," Cathie laughed, delighted to have two friends who were so worried about her. "We had to save someone's life, that's all."

At Hermione's flabbergasted expression, Neville elaborated, "There was a girl who had been crying in the bathroom for a while and didn't know that there was a troll about."

"So you went to save her?!" Hermione demanded, incredulous. "Why didn't you just tell a prefect, for goodness's sake?!"

Cathie and Neville froze, and exchanged sheepish glances. "We…, er…, didn't even think about it," Cathie confessed, closing her eyes tightly and bracing herself for the outburst.

When none came, she tentatively opened first one eye, then the other. Hermione shook her head. "Oh, the two of you…." she muttered, exasperated. "Please, please try to think of a prefect next time."

"Next time?" Neville looked horrified. "There's not going to be a next time!"

"I don't know, that was pretty fun," Cathie commented, snickering at his dumbfounded expression. "Maybe there should be a next time. Wanna join, Hermione?"

Hermione burst into giggles, and the other two followed. Then Hermione straightened out and announced, "Ronald apologized while you two were gone."

"Really?" Interest piqued, Cathie and Neville stared at her.

"Really. Well, okay, not quite. It was terribly obvious that Harry made him, but still. And he asked me to help him perform the levitation charm, and then I did, and then it worked! So I think we'll be on better terms from here on out."

"That's a relief." Cathie beamed, happy for her friend.

The next morning, Cathie received a letter with the morning post. It was from her mother, detailing the festivities that had occurred in her workplace. It ended with, How was your Halloween?

Cathie grinned. This was going to be a fun letter to write. Dear Mom, yesterday I fought a troll….


	9. I Won't Give Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie struggles with her frustration with the rampant bullying in at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spell Madam Pomfrey uses isn't real, just something I made up. I think the rough Latin translation is 'list injuries,' but I'm not positive since apparently I forgot to write it down somewhere. Either that or I just can't find it - my folders are very badly organized. I know the ending of this chapter doesn't really resolve anything, but this chapter and the next are sort of like two halves of one really long chapter, so then next one will hopefully have a satisfactory resolution. I do not own Harry Potter or Calling All Angels.

Date: Saturday, 16 November, 1991

Theme Song: Calling All Angels by Train

 

Throughout the next couple of weeks, the bullying of Hermione became almost nonexistent, save for the pureblood bigots in Slytherin. In fact, she became best friends with Harry and Ron, which was a great improvement. However, it became plainer and plainer that Daphne's bullying was just getting worse.

"Hey, blood traitor! Is there a muggle-born you haven't associated yourself with yet?"

Okay, so those weren't so bad, but they were so frequent that they became incredibly annoying. But then there was:

"Sure, you might be good at school, but clearly that's all you're good for, or else you'd have friends."

And that was a pretty awful thing to hear about five or six times a week. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was also:

"How could you be dumb enough to get yourself trapped in the bathroom with a troll – and then let two Gryffindors beat it up for you? You lost us points and gained them points!"

Admittedly, whether Cathie liked it or not, that was exactly what had happened, even though they omitted the part where Daphne had landed the final blow. But the other Slytherins didn't have to be so nasty about the whole thing! Honestly, it was just a silly competition between a bunch of kids. What was the big deal with points this and points that?

And of course Cadence was heading Project Make-Daphne-Feel-Awful, because that was just the kind of person he was. Things were getting out of hand among the first-year Slytherins. Past giving Cadence a detention which Cathie and Neville unfortunately shared with him the day after Halloween, Snape didn't seem to be stepping in at all (she had stopped thinking of him as 'Professor' when he had turned out be no better than his students), so Cathie had resolved that even if it was none of her business, even if it was going to be rather difficult since she was so rarely involved, she was going to have to put a stop to this nonsense.

But how?

She spent a week and a half studying Lee, Fred and George's pranks, trying to come up with her own, because that seemed like a good way to get back at people, but she just could not think of something. Her frustration came to a head on the day of the first Qudditch match.

By eleven o'clock that day, the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

After wishing Harry good luck one last time, Ron and Hermione joined Cathie, Neville, Dean and Seamus up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, the six of them had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Ron's pet rat had ruined. It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a charm that made the paint flashed different colors.

"I still can't believe how well you did that." Cathie admired the lion drawing in slight disbelief. "I can't even imagine being able to do something like that."

Dean beamed. "Thanks! I do a lot of drawing in my spare time, so I guess that's how I got so good."

Cathie grimaced. "I can't stand drawing, to be honest. Don't know why, just can't. You'll just have to draw things for me for the rest of my life, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll get right on that."

They grinned at each other. Then they spotted the Qudditch teams leaving the locker rooms. Madam Hooch was down there, and at a word from her, all the players clambered onto their brooms. Then she blew her whistle, and the players were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too – "

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

Cathie snickered at Lee's commentary. She only hoped he wasn't going to get in trouble with Professor McGonagall later

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alivia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by the Slytherins – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goalposts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from Slytherin. To her surprise, Cathie found herself cheering with everyone else. Maybe it was more exciting when she knew some of the players. She had never enjoyed watching Tierney's older brother Seamus play soccer, but then again, she had been in the presence of both Cadence and Tierney's younger brother Niall, both of whom she held a mutually antagonistic relationship with, and she shared that same relationship with Seamus anyway.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give that giant, Hagrid, enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," Hagrid told them, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," Ron announced. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," Hagrid pointed out, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry.

Cathie peered at the Seeker, too, as she helped hold the banner up. "Neville, remind myself to get a pair of binoculars. This is impossible. I can't tell who anyone is up there."

"Duly noted. Mind you, I should probably do the same."

"Man, my arms are starting to hurt," Seamus complained.

Cathie frowned and glanced up at the banner. Then she thought of something. "Oh, we're all idiots. How did no one think of this?" She pulled her wand out, swished and flicked, and called out, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The banner levitated itself out of everyone's hands. "Duh!" Dean exclaimed. "Good idea, Cathie. It would have been unbearable to try and keep that thing up there for all this time."

Cathie smiled but didn't look in his direction, keeping her attention mainly focused on the banner. "Thanks. It's a good thing we have a commentator – if we didn't, I'd have absolutely no idea what was happening right there."

"Let's take shifts," Dean suggested. "I'll take over in a few minutes. That way you can watch, too."

"Okay, thanks."

"I'd help, but I'm afraid I might set the banner on fire," Seamus admitted. "Sorry."

"Slytherin in possession," Lee was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd. Cathie forced herself not to look, concentrating hard on the banner as everyone whispered and gasped and whooped. After a couple of seconds, she heard Dean say, "My turn now. Go ahead and watch, Cathie, I'll handle the banner. Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Thanks!" Cathie lowered her wand and turned to the match that was taking place. Harry and the Slytherin Seeker were hurtling downward after a streak of gold, neck and neck – Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch. Harry was faster than the Slytherin – barely a foot away from the Snitch – he put on an extra spurt of speed – WHAM! All the Gryffindors roared in rage – one Slytherin had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life. "Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors all around Cathie.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to the Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor.

Having handed banner duty off to Hermione, Dean yelled, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"What are you talking about, Dean?" Ron questioned.

"Red card!" Dean repeated furiously. "In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

"But this isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side. "They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

Meanwhile, Lee was finding it difficult not to take sides. "So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating – "

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall growled.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul – "

"Jordan, I'm warning you – "

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession. Spinnet takes off toward the Slytherin goalposts – dodges Pucey – dodges a Bludger – ooh, nasty blow to the back by the other Bludger. Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherins score – oh no…"

The Slytherins were cheering. Cathie booed along with her classmates. "Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. Cathie glanced up in search of him, and frowned when she spotted him drifting higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went. Hagrid stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…."

Suddenly, people all over the stands were pointing up at Harry. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk, and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"Happen to what? What's going on?" Ron scowled as he kept his wand trained on the banner.

"I think it's my turn to hold that thing up. You can watch the game again, Ron. Wingardium Leviosa!" Cathie trained her own wand on the banner.

"Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick," Hagrid was saying, "except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

Cathie heard a rustle to her left, and Ron moaned, "What are you doing?"

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape – look." More rustling, and then Hermione elaborated, "He's doing something – jinxing the broom."

Cathie gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. He's staring at Harry, and muttering nonstop under his breath. It's got to be him."

"What should we do?" Ron demanded.

"Leave it to me." Hermione's voice was firm and determined.

On Cathie's right, Neville turned to her and hugged her, sobbing. "I can't look!"

Cathie grimaced, wishing she could say something, but since she couldn't see and had no idea what was happening, she really couldn't. She continued focusing on the banner as much as possible, shuddering every time someone gasped or moaned and asking her classmates every five seconds, "What's going on? Is Harry okay? Has his broom stopped acting up?"

After a while, Dean took the banner on, and Cathie turned her attention to the game again just as Harry was clambering back onto his broom. "Neville, it's alright, he's okay now!"

Neville looked up in relief and released her. "Oh, thank God!"

Harry was speeding toward the ground when the Gryffindor first-years saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick. He hit the field on all fours, coughed, and stared in amazement at something in his hand. Then he beamed and shouted, "I've got the Snitch!" waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

The Slytherins were still howling twenty minutes later, complaining about the untraditional method Harry had used to catch the Snitch, but it made no difference; Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee was still happily shouting about the results – Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty.

Hagrid made his way out of the stands the second the Snitch had been caught, with Ron and Hermione darting after him. Cathie, Neville, Dean and Seamus followed at a lackluster pace. Cathie hadn't wanted the banner to be crumpled with someone carrying it, so she volunteered to levitate it above the crowd as they walked. Dean and Seamus led the way clearing a semi-decent path, while Neville kept his hands on her shoulders, steering her in the right direction. Taking shifts, they all managed to get the banner back safely to the Gryffindor common room. Cathie waited there as Dean, Seamus and Neville transported it into the boys' dormitory. Moments later, they returned and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. In the Entrance Hall, they ran into Malfoy, his cronies, and Cadence.

"Potter's lucky they counted that," Malfoy snarled. "Next time, he won't be."

"Wanna bet?" Cathie scowled at him. "You're just jealous because you could never fly that well."

Malfoy scowled back. "You better watch your mouth, muggle-lover."

Cathie rolled her eyes. She wasn't afraid of that scumbag. "Maybe you should watch yours. Not because what you say is disrespectful, but because it's always so stupid. No muggle-lover would consider 'muggle-lover' an insult. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes furiously at her, then smirked. "I find that hard to believe that, since you spend all your time with that oaf." He nodded to Neville.

Now Cathie narrowed her eyes. "Don't call him an oaf. He's smarter than you, that's for sure."

"Longbottom has more guts than he has brains, and since apparently he needs someone like you to stand up for him, that's saying something."

"Well, he has someone to stand up for him. I guarantee none of your so-called friends would stand up for you. They only hang out with you because you intimidate them – actually, scratch that. It's your father's position in society that intimidates them."

"At least I have a father, unlike him."

Cathie glanced back instinctively at Neville, who looked like he was going to cry. She hadn't known that he didn't have a father – but either way, that comment was not gonna fly. No one spoke to her best friend like that – no one spoke to anyone like that, not when she was there to hear!

"How dare you!" Filled with rage, she stomped forward and slapped him across the face. He backed up and cupped his red cheek, looking shocked. Not finished, she lunged to grab him, but one of the gorillas lunged forward and pushed her away.

"I don't like hitting girls, but I will if you make me." Unable to resist, Cathie stuck her tongue out at him – and received a punch in the face for it.

"You leave her alone, Crabbe!" Dean tackled the gorilla, and when the other one made to join the fight, Seamus took him on. Cathie stumbled backwards, reeling from the blow. Even angrier, Cathie jumped in again to help.

"What is going on here?!" Professor Sprout had arrived. The five separated, looking at the ground guiltily. And Malfoy and Cadence were nowhere to be found.

 

 

"I cannot believe the six of you," Professor McGonagall fumed, pacing back and forth in front of them. She had already sent Neville away, since he hadn't done any fighting. Snape stood on the side, observing them, his face unreadable. Professor McGonagall stopped in her tracks and glared at them. "How did this happen?"

"They started it," were the first words out of Crabbe's mouth.

"No, they started it!" Dean shot back.

Cathie held up a hand. "Thank you, Dean, but I don't want you to get in trouble for lying for me." She looked her Head of House in the eye. "I did start it. Malfoy, Cadence, Crabbe and Goyle passed us in the hall, and Malfoy started arguing with us – well, me. Then he made fun of Neville for not having a father. So I slapped him."

Professor McGonagall looked torn between disappointment, approval, and exasperation. She sighed. "And how did the rest of you get involved?"

"Crabbe got in the way, and she attacked him, too," Goyle stated instantly. "So I tried to help, but then those two joined in."

Cathie rolled her eyes. "No, this is what happened: Crabbe did get in the way, and then he said he didn't want to hit a girl, but he would if he had to. I stuck my tongue out at him. He punched me. Dean defended me, and then Goyle tried to attack him, but Seamus stopped him. I tried to help."

Professor McGonagall sighed again and put her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do with the three of you, honestly. So what happened to Malfoy and Cadence?"

Cathie shrugged, scowling once more. "Ran off, I guess."

"Professor McGonagall, she's lying," Crabbe insisted. "She attacked me unprovoked. All I did was stop her from attacking Malfoy."

"That's not true!" Dean and Seamus snarled.

Professor McGonagall grimaced. "I'm afraid there's no way to be sure whose story is true." All five of them groaned. "Of course, you still need to be punished for fighting. You three, detention for every night the coming week. Professor Snape, I trust you to deal with your own students."

Professor Snape nodded. "Your punishment seems appropriate for them, too. Now, if you're hurt, go to Madam Pomfrey. If not, then go directly to lunch."

The five of them made their way from Snape's office to the Entrance Hall. Crabbe and Goyle leered at them as they went to the Great Hall. Cathie, Dean and Seamus checked themselves for injuries. "I don't think I'm all that hurt, do you?" Dean commented.

Seamus shook his head. "You look fine, and I'm fine too. They didn't do much, just roughed us up a bit. We were fighting three-to-two, and not for very long, so they wouldn't have gotten us that bad."

Cathie hesitated. "I, uh… my arm might be broken. Now, I'm not an expert in these topics, but I think I should probably get that looked at."

"We'll go with you," Seamus offered. "Wouldn't want Crabbe and Goyle to gang up on you."

They walked her over, and she reported to Madam Pomfrey, who rolled her eyes. "Ferula," she muttered, pointing her wand at Cathie's arm. "Is that it, or is there more?"

Cathie shrugged. "I think that's it, except for my cheek."

Madam Pomfrey frowned. "Let me check. Iniureferous." She waved her wand at Cathie, and in front of her, Cathie saw writing appear midair. It was facing Madam Pomfrey, so it was backwards, but she still managed to read it. The first line read, Broken arm, the second line read, Broken nose, and the rest were small things like bruises. Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. "'That's it' indeed," she commented. "Let me just fix those broken bones – Episkey! Brackium Emendo! – and I'll go get something for all that other stuff. It takes a while to work, so you'll be stuck here for two or three hours. Lunch will be arranged for you afterwards."

Madam Pomfrey went into her office and came back with a small jar. "Take off your robes," she instructed, "and roll up your sleeves and pant legs." Frowning, Cathie obliged, and saw various bruises all over. Madam Pomfrey gave her an odd look. "How come you didn't notice all these injuries?"

Cathie shrugged. "I've been bullied for a long time," she muttered, unable to look at the nurse. "Bruises are nothing new."

Madam Pomfrey kept giving her that look. After a while, she commented, "You know, you took the whole 'broken arm' thing better than most kids do. Are broken arms 'nothing new,' too?"

Cathie shook her head. "I mean, I played sports back where I lived, so I guess I just have a high tolerance for pain, that's all."

Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then nodded and proceeded to administer the paste from the jar to all her bruises.

A couple of hours later, Dean and Seamus returned, along with what seemed like half of Gryffindor; Harry, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, Lee, Katie, Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia.

"Hey!' Madam Pomfrey objected. "Six at a time! Six at a time!"

The group exchanged glances, then left the hospital wing. A few seconds later, the Gryffindor first-years reappeared. "Seamus and Dean told us how you told off Malfoy!" Lavender exclaimed excitedly.

"And how you slapped him!" Ron enthused.

"And then you stuck your tongue out at Crabbe!" Parvati added.

"And you slapped him!"

"And then you took on both Crabbe and Goyle with Dean and Seamus!" Harry put in.

"And you – "

"Ron, we know!" the other five chorused.

"I'm sorry Malfoy insulted you like that." Parvati frowned. "That was horrible rude and inappropriate. He had no right to be saying such things."

Cathie frowned too, confused. "Saying what things?"

"You know, about…, you know…, how your father… walkedoutonyouandall…." Parvati rushed the end of the sentence and shuffled her feet.

Cathie glanced questioningly at Dean and Seamus, who grimaced and shook their heads slowly. She looked back at Parvati and smiled. "It's alright. It's not like I've never been exposed to that sort of thing."

She looked around, confused, and Ron answered her unspoken question. "Hermione wouldn't come because she disapproves of fighting. She probably won't be speaking to you for a while."

Cathie laughed. "Eh, she'll come around soon enough."

"And Neville couldn't face you," Harry explained. "He's under the impression that you're mad at him because he didn't join in the fight."

Cathie scowled. "What? No, that's ridiculous. Of course I'm not."

Harry shrugged. "That's what I said, but he wouldn't listen. And I think he also feels guilty that he didn't help out at all."

He thinks it was his fault, Dean mouthed at her over the others' shoulders. Cathie scowled more. "That's ridiculous," she repeated. "I would never be upset with him for something like that. It was stupid of me to get into a fight anyway - not that I regret it even slightly, he totally had it coming."

"Agreed - and that was awesome!" Seamus grinned at her. "No one's ever stood up to Malfoy like that. I mean, most of us Gryffindors aren't afraid to fight back, but you – well – "

"You slapped him!" Ron seemed utterly amazed by this act of defiance.

"And then when McGonagall asked us about it, you just owned up to it, proudly." Dean beamed brightly. "That was the coolest part, in my opinion."

"And she broke her arm doing it, too," Seamus announced to the group. They oohed and ahhed.

"We better get going," Lavender commented.

"Er, we'll catch up," Dean said. The other four shrugged and left. Dean turned to Cathie. "We, uh, didn't tell the others that Malfoy was talking about Neville with that last comment. I don't think it's really our place."

"No, it's not." Cathie smiled, relieved. "Good thinking. I'm glad you didn't tell anyone – it's his right to withhold information about his past, after all."

Then they left, too, and the next group came in. Lee grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "I knew you were something special when I met you at the station," he announced.

Katie smirked at him. "Yeah? Well I knew she was special when I met her in Flourish & Blotts. Before you did. So there." She slung an arm around Cathie's other shoulder.

"Two months in, and you've already landed a blow on the biggest jerk around." Angelina gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice work."

"And you managed to get into a scuffle..."

"…with two of the biggest jerks around…

"…literally," the twins chorused.

"A pretty bad one, too." Alicia winced, looking at the smears of paste littering Cathie's arms and legs. "I'm actually surprised that Crabbe and Goyle would hit a girl."

Cathie laughed. "Funny you said that – Crabbe did say he'd rather not hit a girl if he could help it, but then I stuck my tongue out at him, so…." She shrugged. "To be honest, I'd've punched me, too. Although he didn't have to break my nose."

"He broke your nose?" a twin demanded.

The other twin shook his head. "That Crabbe – no class."

"And I guess Goyle ganged up on you with him," Angelina guessed.

Cathie shook her head. "Actually, Dean took on Crabbe first, and then Goyle ganged up on him, and then Seamus took him on, and then I felt left out so I jumped in too."

"How come you're so beat up when those two seem fine?" Alicia raised an eyebrow at her. "Seems awfully unchivalrous to let you take all the damage."

Cathie grimaced. "No, don't say that. I think I just have a habit of getting in the middle of things."

Those six didn't stay too long, but at the end of it, Lee, Fred and George told the others that they were going to stay a bit longer. Cathie tilted her head inquisitively, wondering why they were hanging about.

"Don't give me that look." Lee shook his head mock-disapprovingly. "Can't we just hang out with you 'cause we feel like it?"

Cathie shrugged. "It's not like you're all over me when I'm not in the hospital wing."

"Good point," George mused. "Well, as a thank-you for roughing Malfoy up a bit, we'd like to show you something. Bruises usually only take two hours to heal up, right? So we shouldn't have to wait long."

Madam Pomfrey poked her head out of her office. "Really, the bruises should be about gone by now, and Miss McGinley does seem to have a high tolerance for pain, so it shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure she gets some lunch, okay? There's food waiting for her in the Great Hall."

"Okay," Fred agreed.

Lee, Fred, George, and Cathie walked out of the office and down to the Entrance Hall. She expected them to make their way to the Great Hall, but instead they led her past it into the basement. "Where are we going?" she asked cautiously.

George smirked mysteriously. "You'll see." He walked up to a painting of a pear – and tickled it. And then it swung out, revealing another room beyond it, and the four of them headed inside. It was a kitchen, filled with the oddest little creatures, very short things with large, bat-like ears and bulging eyes the size of tennis balls, all clad in pillowcases. Their high-pitched squeaks echoed throughout the kitchen.

"What are they?" Cathie whispered to the three upperclassmen.

They exchanged glances. "Shoot, we forgot that she's a muggle-born," George groaned. He faced her. "See, these are called house-elves. Now, please try not to overreact to what I'm about to say… but they're sort of slaves." Cathie stared in bewilderment as he continued. "Every house-elf is bound to a certain pureblood family. They are magically forced to obey their owners' every whim, and must punish themselves if they fail, whether it's on purpose or just a mistake. The good owners usually order them not to punish themselves, but some of the worst take the punishments to an extreme."

Cathie shivered. "That's horrible."

Fred nodded grimly. "Yeah, in those cases, it is. House-elves actually enjoy serving wizards, though, if you'll believe it, so the ones that aren't treated poorly are pretty happy – like these ones. Dumbledore does something really great; see, if an owner isn't satisfied with their house-elf's work, they give them their freedom by giving them clothing. A house-elf's pillowcase marks their ownership. Dumbledore accepts all freed elves. He'd pay them all, of course, but none of them want it. It's seen as something horrible to take."

"Anyway," Lee interrupted, "we wanted to show you this because it's something really incredible we found. You can come here any time, any day, and they'll give you anything you could ever even imagine, food-wise. They're great. Now you can mention that you know where

the kitchen is - but don't tell anyone else, because students aren't supposed to know where the kitchen is."

Cathie smiled. "Thanks – God, I hate waking up early on the weekends to make breakfast. This'll make everything easier. Man, if I'd known all I had to do to get this was slap Malfoy, I'd have done that ages ago."


	10. Too School for Cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie, Neville, Daphne, Dean, and Seamus decide it's time to get even with Malfoy and the Minions, in their own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This chapter was particularly fun to write. Also sorry if the parts where the POV switches from third person limited to third person omnipotent are messy; I can't stand writing omnipotent, so rest assured, this is going to be one of the only times it happens if not the only time. I do not own Harry Potter or Raise Your Glass.

Date: Sun. – Tue., 17-19 November, 1991

Theme Song: Raise Your Glass by P!nk

 

Neville managed to avoid Cathie until Sunday afternoon, when she, Dean and Seamus caught him in the library talking to Daphne. As soon as he spotted them, he paled and hurriedly put his book up upside down. Cathie rolled her eyes and stomped towards him before slamming the book onto the table. "I can't believe you," she fumed. "I've been looking all over for you the past twenty-four hours! What's wrong with you?"

Neville looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, Cathie. I know I should have stopped that fight, or at least helped…."

"Don't be an idiot." Cathie pulled up a chair and sat down. Dean and Seamus gave Daphne wary looks as they did the same. "There would have been no point in fighting with us. All we accomplished was gaining a week of detentions. And how would you have stopped it?"

"I don't know…." Neville shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I could've stood up for myself. Then you wouldn't have had to get involved."

Cathie laughed. "Let me ease your mind; there was nothing you could've done to stop me from slapping that git. Nobody talks about my friends like that without getting their butt kicked."

Neville hesitated, then looked up. "And… about my dad…."

Cathie held a hand up to stop him, and shook her head. "Don't. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Your past is your own. Whatever secrets you might keep, you're still my best friend."

Neville smiled gratefully at her. "You're a great friend, Cathie."

Cathie smiled back, then turned to the rest of the group. "Now, since the three of you are here, there's something that needs to be addressed." Daphne started to get up, but Cathie quickly added, "Stay, Daphne. I think you'll be interested in what I have to say." Surprised, Daphne sat back down.

"Are you sure you can trust her?" Seamus asked Cathie uncertainly.

Cathie nodded firmly. "Yeah, she's cool. She's not on very good terms with Malfoy and his minions either."

"Particularly Cadence," Daphne muttered.

Cathie grinned at her four friends. "Now, I don't think Malfoy's paid nearly enough for all the things he's said and done since school started, and I don't think Cadence has either. Wouldn't you agree?" They all nodded. "I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to come up with a good way to get back at them, but to no avail – until I realized I was just overthinking it. Who needs some fancy, complex solution? Let's just put them through as much as we can, give 'em as much as we get!"

They all stared at her, torn between thinking she was a genius and delusional. "It sounds like a good plan," Daphne started, "in theory. I'm just not sure we could ever pull it off. I mean, how do we do that? We're just five kids, and Cadence has what seems like the whole of Slytherin behind him."

Cathie smirked. "I've been doing some thinking, and I think we'll just start with little things. Use all the spells we've learned and every little other thing we can think of and do all the small things that, together, can potentially ruin someone's day."

Dean nodded slowly. "This could work," he agreed. "We'd have to do some planning though. Let's combine all our knowledge of spells and see what we can come up with, okay?" Everyone nodded vigorously.

Seamus frowned, thinking hard. "Okay, so we've learned the wand-lighting charm, the fire-making charm, and the severing charm. Oh, and you four are probably decent at basic levitation charms, too. I still set things on fire." He scowled for a moment, then continued. "We also learned…, well…, not much in Defense, really. We learned to turn matches into needles in Transfiguration, and in the other classes we didn't learn much."

"We've been learning the knockback jinx in Defense," Neville muttered, "but I'm not very good yet."

"I don't think any of us are." Daphne smiled encouragingly. "We only just started, after all."

"Does anyone know anything outside of what we've been taught?" Cathie asked hopefully.

Daphne raised her hand. "I, uh, I do know the movement-slowing charm. I've been practicing some of the more interesting upper-year spells."

Cathie nodded slowly. "We can definitely find a use for that."

"I also know the tickling charm."

Cathie beamed. "Oh, that's a good one. I know the silencing charm – does anyone else know something extra?" No one responded. Cathie thought about the list that had built up. "Okay, now it's time to start brainstorming."

 

 

The next day, Cathie, Neville, Dean and Seamus sat together at breakfast in the Great Hall, trying to smother their smirks. They caught Daphne's eye, and she grinned at them.

They began piling food on their plates as they did every day. Cathie winked at Neville; then she pointed her wand at the Slytherins from underneath the table and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa." Malfoy's cup lifted about an inch, then fell on him, spilling pumpkin juice on his robes. As he cleaned himself up, looking confused, Cadence's pumpkin juice spilled on his robes as well, and Neville winked back at Cathie.

A few minutes later, as Malfoy was leading his cronies out of the Great Hall, a tear appeared in his bag as a tear appeared in Cadence's. Dean and Seamus low-fived.

Cathie and Neville got up and followed the four out of the Great Hall. They gave both Gryffindors suspicious looks, but Cathie and Neville must have managed to pull off at least semi-innocuous, because the four walked by without paying the two too much attention. This was good, because Cathie and Neville muttered, "Diffindo," at the same time, with wands subtly pointed in the Slytherins' directions. Two tears crossed the two that were already on the bags, and everything spilled out.

Malfoy whirled around and stomped up to Cathie. "You did that! You must have!" he insisted, pointing at her accusingly.

She held his gaze. "I have people who can and will attest to me walking to class with them at this very moment. It's our words against yours."

Clearly infuriated, Malfoy stomped back to his bag and dumped all his books in Crabbe's bag. Cadence taped his bag up and put the books back in, but the tape tore without any help and released the books onto the floor once more. Goyle wordlessly picked the books up and put them in his own bag.

Dean and Seamus had snuck ahead while the Slytherins were distracted and slipped some Dungbombs in their path (Cathie had paid Fred and George double what they'd paid for them, all the while receiving thoughtful and suspicious looks). Distracted by their infuriation, Malfoy and his cronies didn't even notice them and stepped on them, causing them to slip and fall on their butts. The Dungbombs went off, and the four were plunged into smelly green smoke. Dean and Seamus met up with Cathie and Neville nearer to the Entrance Hall, and they shared a good laugh before heading off to Herbology class, which was, luckily, in another direction.

During lunch, rumors were circulating that Malfoy had been unable to stop laughing during both his classes. Cathie, Neville, Dean and Seamus all smirked at Daphne, pleased that she'd performed the tickling charms so well.

All of a sudden, Malfoy and Cadence's wizard hats burst into flames upon their heads. They were burnt to crisps, but the fire evaporated once there was nothing left of the hats to burn. Cathie and Neville gave discreet thumbs-up to Seamus for his perfectly imperfect levitation charms.

Having become friends with the house-elves, Cathie had gotten them to do her a favor. When they had transported the lunch to the table, they had also transported two bottles of oil underneath the Slytherin table, to the spots in front of where Malfoy and Cadence usually sat. Now Cathie carefully levitated one bottle while Neville levitated the other and pour oil all over the two pairs of shoes. When Malfoy and Cadence got up a little while later, they immediately started slipping and sliding around on the floor. One of the upper years glanced over, pointed their wand at the shoes, and stated, "Scourgify." The shoes became clean, and Malfoy, his expression giving Cathie great amusement, stormed out of the Great Hall, closely followed by his minions. Cathie and Neville smirked at each other, and up at the Head Table, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchanged glances.

Meanwhile, Dean was waiting outside. He and Daphne had left dinner early; Daphne should be at the Charms classroom by then. It was his job to stall the Slytherins. He hid inside an unused classroom as they walked closer. Then he carefully levitated a Dungbomb from behind a nearby column into Crabbe's bag. It exploded into smelly green smoke, and Dean slipped out in front of the cloud and levitated another bottle of oil from a hiding place inside the cloud. Since he couldn't see, he just covered the entire floor there in oil. Then he ran ahead to the classroom, equipped with extra stalling devices if necessary. "Daphne, you almost done?" he hissed.

Daphne walked out with a huge smirk. "Yep. The job is finished. Oh, he's never going to live this down. Now c'mon – let's get going. I'll take another route to the Great Hall so that they won't know I was here before them, and you go to your next class so that it doesn't look like we walked in together."

"Yes, God forbid that anyone think we're friends," Dean scoffed as they headed down that direction. "That would be a horrible thing."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "It's not that. I mean, after today I don't really care. But if you go down for this stuff, I'm not letting you bring me down with you."

"Just for that, I'm going to tattle if they find out. Only on you, though. See you!"

"Yeah, yeah, see you."

They went their separate ways.

After the next class, the four Gryffindors and lone Slytherin met up again at the library. "How'd Charms class go, Daphne?" Seamus sniggered.

Daphne grinned. "Oh, splendidly. I'm so glad that Professor Flitwick decided on Friday that Malfoy's report was so good, the whole class should hear it. That's what he gets for switching our reports."

"So he read the, ah, additional information on the back?" Cathie asked.

"You bet he did. He finished the report and said, 'Oh, there seems to be more on the back. Shall I read it?' And Malfoy, being the idiot he is, just assumed he had missed that part and said, 'Sure, go ahead.'"

"And what did the class think of the fake diary entry you wrote on the back?" Dean questioned, eyes glittering with mischief.

Daphne smirked widely. "They especially enjoyed listening to the part about his fear of the dark and his collection of dolls." Everyone laughed. "Professor Flitwick didn't read the whole thing out loud, of course, but one of my classmates stole the report from his desk and read it very loudly in the corridor. Probably, most of the Slytherins won't believe it, but the ones who will are the ones most likely to have friends in other Houses that they can tell, so the rumors will reach everyone else."

"We can pass those rumors onto our friends, too," Neville exclaimed. "After all, you were in the class, so it's possible that you would have come to tell us afterwards. God knows you'd never pass up an opportunity to mock Malfoy."

Daphne's expression brightened further. "That's true! Ha, the rumor-spreading has already begun."

The five of them went to dinner, and as the Gryffindors sat down, Ron turned excitedly to them and said, "Did you hear? Apparently Malfoy is afraid of the dark!"

They couldn't help it. The four masterminds exchanged glances and dissolved into evil cackles.

The other five gave them weird looks. "What's up with these guys?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. "No clue. Hey, what's up with you guys?"

Cathie finally stopped cackling long enough to tell them, "Don't tell anyone, but we're the reason everyone thinks that. We have a friend in his class who wrote down a fake diary entry on the back of Malfoy's report, and Professor Flitwick accidentally read it to the class. He didn't read all of it, but another classmate stole the report and read it to everyone."

Everyone except for Hermione laughed. Hermione sniffed and looked away, clearly disapproving. "Oh, lighten up, Hermione," Harry commented. "Even you can't say he doesn't deserve it."

Hermione frowned. "It was still a very risky thing to do. Who is this friend?"

"Oh, it's Daphne, that girl Neville and I saved from the troll on Halloween," Cathie explained. "And before you say anything, you should know – that report Professor Flitwick read was apparently so good, he read it to the whole class because they could all learn from it. And Malfoy didn't write it; he stole it from Daphne. So this whole thing was very justified."

Hermione narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Daphne's not bad. I suppose you're right, but be a bit more careful from now on."

"I will take your advice into consideration."

"…That's not an agreement."

"I know."

"Cathie."

Cathie grinned. "Actually, I've decided I rather like this whole 'breaking the rules' thing. It's been quite fun."

"What do you mean? You did more than just the diary thing?" Ron frowned.

Harry grinned wickedly. "Wait – were you lot behind the Dungbombs and the oil?"

"And the drinks spilling," Seamus put in.

"And the bags tearing," Dean added.

"But it was really all Cathie's idea," Neville told their classmates as they gasped. "She came up with most of it, we just helped."

Cathie flushed as Dean and Seamus nodded vigorously. "She was the one coming up with all the ideas for the diary entry," Seamus voiced. "Her and Daphne. And she wrote it out – Daphne copied it onto the back of the report."

"And she realized that one tear wouldn't do it on the bags, so she came up with having us two do the first tears and having those two do the second tears," Dean announced.

"Professor Snape, sir, it was her – McGinley!" The Gryffindor first-years all turned to Malfoy as he approached the Head Table. "I know it! She arranged the whole thing!"

Snape gave her a suspicious look. "And why do you believe that, Mister Malfoy?"

Malfoy hesitated, and Cathie smirked – he had no proof. "I – think what a coincidence it is," he insisted. "Yesterday she gets into a fight with Crabbe and Goyle, today the four of us get pranked all day – isn't that a huge coincidence?"

"It is," Snape agreed. "Miss McGinley, come up here, please." Her friends shot her worried looks as she obliged, getting up and walking over to the Head Table. "Where were you before your History of Magic class today?"

There was no proof that she had been behind all the pranks, none at all – and yet – "Throwing Dungbombs at Malfoy." – what better way to tell Malfoy that pranking him was worth all the detentions, even if she got caught?

The entire Great Hall fell silent, and she felt thousands of eyes burning into her skull as she faced Snape. Her gaze flicked briefly towards Malfoy, and she was pleased to see that he seemed a bit unnerved by her confession. He had to know that her guilt would never have been proven.

"I don't believe you," Snape said softly. "You could not possibly have done it all by yourself. Who helped you?"

Incredulous, Cathie raised an eyebrow. "Do you really expect me to tell you?"

"…You have another week's detention for the pranking, and a third for insubordination…, though, of course…, it could always be overlooked if you told me who helped you."

"…No, not happening. What kind of person do you think I am?"

Snape's nostrils flared. "Fine. If you don't tell me, I'll make one of those weeks a month."

"Well, that hardly seems fair. I'm going to get punished for not being a tattletale?"

"If need be, yes."

"Fine. Punish me."

He scowled at her. "Fine. For the pranking, insubordination, and refusal to cooperate, that will be one week and one month in addition to the week you were given on Saturday."

"Sounds good."

"Excuse me, Severus," Professor McGonagall intervened, shooting Cathie a glance with thinly-veiled amusement. "I do believe it's my job to punish my students, yes? I hardly think some small pranks and some little comment deserve five weeks, and as for the refusal to cooperate, well, I don't teach my Gryffindors to sell their friends out. I think maybe three more detentions should do it."

Snape gave her what was quite possibly the dirtiest look Cathie had ever seen. "Fine," he bit out.

Professor McGonagall winked at Cathie, and Cathie smiled gratefully before returning to the Gryffindor table. Dean, Seamus and Neville surged around her. "Thanks for not telling on us!" Seamus exclaimed.

Cathie blinked. "Of course I didn't – like I said, what kind of person would that make me?"

Lee, Fred and George walked by as they left the Great Hall, and as he passed, Lee whispered in her ear, "Meet us next to the kitchen after your detention, and bring your cohorts – but remember not to tell them about the kitchen."

After dinner, Cathie, Dean and Seamus went to a classroom they'd never been to before, where Professor McGonagall would be supervising their detention. They were surprised to find a potions lab there. "Don't worry about supplies," she told them. "You'll be using some spare ones."

"Where are Crabbe and Goyle?" Dean asked, wrinkling his nose. "Don't they have detention, too?"

"They will be serving their detention with Professor Snape. Now, I understand you've been learning how to make the Wiggenweld potion, yes? Madam Pomfrey needs more for her supply, so you'll be brewing some for her. The three of you will be working together. Miss McGinley, I trust you can prevent any explosions?"

Cathie could hardly believe it. Her punishment was potion-brewing? She loved potion-brewing!

The three delinquents exchanged glances. "I thought we'd be doing something nasty," Dean muttered. "Not making some potions. This… isn't that bad."

Seamus grimaced. "So you say now. You'll change your mind when your eyebrows go up in flames."

"Not on my watch," Cathie stated sternly. "If that cauldron blows up, I'll eat my cat."

Five minutes later…

"…Let's just forget that whole 'eating my cat' thing, 'kay?"

Luckily, with Cathie and Dean's combined efforts, there were very few cauldrons blowing up, and at the end of the detention, there were so many potions that Professor McGonagall left a few and told them that they were excess, and to 'dispose of them.'

Disbelieving, Cathie hesitantly glanced at Professor McGonagall, took some potions, glanced back, walked towards the door, and glanced back once more, half expecting her Head of House to say, Psych! But there was no call back, and of course the professor had to know that Cathie was most certainly not going to dispose of any potions.

Best. Teacher. Ever.

Cathie, Dean and Seamus stuffed the potions in their bags. "What are you going to do with yours?" Cathie asked as they headed to the Entrance Hall, where they would meet Neville and Daphne.

Seamus shrugged. "Sell 'em, maybe. I'm sure people could find a use for them – you know, if they get into fights and don't want to go to Madam Pomfrey because they'd get in trouble?"

"That's a good point," Cathie mused.

"I thought we were throwing them out." Dean frowned, confused. Cathie and Seamus laughed.

"No way am I 'disposing' of mine," Cathie announced. "I think I'll keep them for emergencies. I'm a bit clumsy, and it'll be annoying to have to go running to Madam Pomfrey every time I walk into a wall or fall down some stairs or trip over a speck of dust."

They chuckled, and then Neville and Daphne came into view. The five of them went down to the basement, where Lee, Fred and George were waiting by the ticklish pear painting. "Why did we meet here exactly, anyway?" Daphne wondered.

Cathie shrugged. "Maybe not many people come by here."

They walked up to the troublesome trio, who grinned as one. "Welcome," George intoned.

"We have a proposition for you," Lee informed them.

"It has come to our attention…" one twin began.

"…that there are some new pranksters at Hogwarts…" the other continued.

"…in need of some guidance," the first finished.

"So we're offering you the chance to learn from the best," Lee proclaimed.

"Us," Fred and George clarified.

The five first-years exchanged awed glances. "I…" Neville hesitated. "You guys really are the best… but I think I'm gonna turn you down. I'm not really a fan of this whole 'pranking' business, if I'm being honest. Thank you for the offer, though." Lee, Fred and George nodded understandingly.

Dean and Seamus exchanged glances. "Hate to say it, but I think we're in the same boat," Seamus admitted.

"Yeah…. I'd love to learn from the three of you, but I don't think I'm quite smart enough to get away with all this pranking and doing well in classes like the three of you do," Dean put in.

It was down to Cathie and Daphne. "I think…." Daphne grimaced. "It'd be real hard for me to be your pupil. I'm in Slytherin, after all; it's not like I get many opportunities to slip away and prank some people. My housemates would notice, anyway; like I said, I'm in Slytherin, house of mistrust and paranoia. I think I'd better say no, too."

George turned to Cathie. "And you?"

Lee wiggled his eyebrows. Cathie shook her head at him, smiling. "I've never been a troublemaker before," she confessed. "Actually, I was always known as a goody-two-shoes – although that's mainly because my mom and I never have issues regarding rules because, well, in my house there barely are any rules, my mom's pretty awesome like that – but anyway, this was fun. I'd definitely like to take you up on that."

Lee, Fred and George grinned at her. "Brilliant," Lee exclaimed. "I knew I liked you from the moment you were the only kid willing to pet Shelob."

"Shelob?" the others echoed. Lee and Cathie grinned at each other.


	11. Worth the Risk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this seems like a filler chapter. It is, sort of, but it's not at the same time. It's a very important chapter in Cathie's character development. And with Ninja, I repeat; There is a very good reason why she's so super smart. I'm just not going to tell you for a few books. And before any of you ask, no, she is not an Animagus. That would be too obvious ;). I do not own Harry Potter or The Only Exception by Paramore.

Date: Tue. – Wed., 24-25 December, 1991

Theme Song: The Only Exception by Paramore

Lee, Fred and George proceeded to teach Cathie what they knew over the next few weeks, and occasionally let her in on some of their pranks. It was great fun, and Cathie became much closer to the three of them.

Christmas was coming fast. Apparently Fred and George were staying at Hogwarts, along with their brothers, because their parents were traveling to Romania to visit their older brother Charlie. Cathie had planned on spending Christmas Eve shopping for gifts for everyone. It wasn't until a couple of weeks before that her mother sent her a letter with a phrase that made Cathie think of something she'd overlooked.

…and Cadence says he's really looking forward to coming home, too….

It was then that Cathie realized she had a very difficult decision to make. Christmas was so important to her family, and before Hogwarts, Cathie would never have even considered not spending Christmas with her family. But could she pass up this magnificent opportunity that she'd never had before?

Christmas… with friends.

Without Cadence.

Without her mother…, and Danica…, and her cats….

Without Cadence.

And so, Cathie wrote her mother a letter, requesting permission to stay at Hogwarts. The response took quite a bit longer than usual to arrive, but it contained grudging acceptance, and Cathie happily wrote her name on the list of students staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.

"You're staying?" Neville asked in surprise. "Why? I thought you were going home to spend some time with your family."

Cathie shook her head. "Nah, I changed my mind. Christmas without Cadence? That's the only gift I need."

A few days later, Neville received a letter in the mail, scanned it, and beamed. "Cathie, guess what? I can stay here for Christmas, too!"

"Really? That's great!" Cathie cheered.

Though it was bittersweet, since she wasn't with her family, she only grew more and more excited as Christmas approached. She hastily got to work looking for gifts for her friends, since she'd be stuck at Hogwarts on Christmas Eve. Using the owls from the Owlery at Hogwarts, she ordered a copy of the Daily Prophet, a wizard newspaper, that contained lists of items from various wizard stores. Her mother had sent her some extra money to spend on Christmas gifts, so Cathie was able to use that money to order all the presents.

The Christmas holidays arrived on the twentieth, and the students who were going home boarded the Hogwarts Express, leaving Cathie, Neville, the Weasleys, and Harry, who had also decided to stay. Cathie made sure that all the presents were wrapped, and the ones for those not at Hogwarts were sent, then began relaxing, basking in the joy of classlessness. Though she enjoyed the company of other students like Lee, Hermione, and Dean, it was much more fun to have so few people around. After a few days of begging, Cathie finally convinced Ninja to spend some time outside of the dorm for once. Ninja was a very anti-social cat, so she had yet to spend much time in the common room, let alone beyond.

Neville, Harry and Ron were fascinated by Ninja, who didn't seem too pleased with the attention. Harry asked her to fetch one too many times, and received a hard nip on his finger for it. Cathie hastily administered a drop of Wiggenweld, and Ninja was left to her own devices. The Gryffindors, save for Percy, who turned out to be a total buzzkill, brought her outside one day to play tag, and when it turned into a snowball fight, with Cathie and Neville, Harry and Ron, and Fred and George teaming up, Ninja raced around tripping the last four and destroying their forts. Then Fred bribed her with treats he'd somehow nicked from Cathie's stash (he'd have to teach her how he managed that later), and the little brat turned on the first-years, leaving Fred and George alone.

Hermione was no longer there to erase Cathie's silencing charms every morning, but since none of her other roommates were there either, or indeed any girl, Cathie decided she didn't really need the charms either. Of course, this led to waking herself up by talking in her sleep, but it wasn't too frequent.

On Christmas Eve, Professor McGonagall gave them permission to use the school brooms for a makeshift game of Quidditch. They split into two teams, and each team had a Seeker and two Chasers. Ninja opted to be referee, and yowled loudly whenever she spotted a foul. None of them could figure out how she knew when there was a foul, but she did a very good job. They couldn't decide on teams, so all the members just rotated every two games. First was Weasleys vs. Non-Weasleys, then Gryffindor Quiddich Team Members vs. Pet Owners, then Pranksters vs. First-Year Boys, then Cathie, Harry and Ron against the other three (they couldn't think of team names).

It became blaringly obvious that any team containing Fred and George were on would win, so they agreed to split up on the condition that they would be the captains of their respective teams and get to choose their own teammates.

"Which of us picks first?" Fred wondered.

"Me, obviously," George stated. "As the better-looking twin."

"Just duel each other," Ron suggested.

Harry stifled a sigh. "Or, you could play rock, paper, scissors," he pointed out.

"…Right, or that."

And so they played, and Fred won. He observed the four first-years, then decided, "Harry."

"Oi!" Ron complained. "I'm your brother!"

"Darn it, Fred, I was gonna choose him. Alright, Cathie."

"Come on, really?"

Fred frowned thoughtfully. "Well, there's a clear choice here. Neville."

Ron groaned as everyone laughed.

Cathie and Ron faced George as he inspected them both. "Right, so one of us is going to have to be Seeker," he stated. "Dibs on Chaser!"

Cathie and Ron exchanged glances, then shrugged. "I'll be Seeker," Ron offered.

"Good idea," Cathie commented. "The Seeker should probably be good at Quidditch – in other words, not me."

"Okay, Cathie, here's the plan," George instructed. "Your job is to be ready for me to pass the Quaffle to you at all times, stay away from the two on the other team, and get the Quaffle back to me whenever I'm available."

Cathie nodded. "Got it."

The six players rose into the sky. Fred and Neville appeared to be taking the Chaser positions, leaving Harry, the obvious choice, as Seeker.

It had been decided that a team captain always started with the Quaffle during their little scrimmages, so since Fred had gotten to choose first, George got the Quaffle. Fred charged him immediately, and George quickly passed it to Cathie. Neville lunged between them, but Cathie dove beneath him and popped up in front of him just in time to catch the Quaffle. She zigzagged between Fred and Neville, her heart racing as she dodged them, and sped toward the goalposts. Her eyes flicked to the left, spotting George coming up on her left. She caught his eye, looked down, then quickly looked back up. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod, smirking a bit.

Fred swooped around them and halted in front of the goalposts as Neville weaved between George and Cathie, his gaze fixed on the Quaffle. He pushed closer – Fred rounded on the other side – and as they surrounded her, she dropped the Quaffle.

They stopped and stared for a couple seconds. "You… uh… you dropped something…." Neville frowned, bewildered.

Fred's eyes widened. "Wait – no…!" He whirled around just a second too late. George flung the Quaffle through a goalpost.

"Yes!" Cathie cheered. She high-fived him.

"That was excellent thinking, my pupil," George praised. "We'll make a Chaser out of you yet."

They played for a little longer, until Harry caught the tennis ball that George had enchanted to fly around. They'd realized that Harry was automatically going to catch the Snitch no matter who he was up against, so they'd lowered the amount of points Harry in particular gained from catching it to just a hundred. Fred's team still won, though, a hundred and fifty to seventy.

"What shall we do now?" Neville asked.

Fred tilted his head thoughtfully. "That's a good question…. We could have an Exploding Snap tournament," he suggested.

"Or a Wizard Chess tournament," Ron piped up excitedly.

"We already did both those things a number of times," George disagreed. "It's Christmas Eve – let's do something new."

Cathie grinned wickedly. "Well, since you lot have the upper hand in all these magic games, let's do something Muggle for once, for Harry and me."

They all looked at her. "What did you have in mind?" Neville inquired.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Card games, maybe?" he suggested.

Cathie smirked. "I had something else in mind. Anyone ever heard of Truth or Dare?"

A few minutes later, the six students (and Ninja, of course, can't forget about her) were sitting in a circle. "Who goes first?" Ron asked.

"Let's vote on it," Cathie decided. "Everyone, write down your vote on some paper." They did so, and Cathie collected the votes, then counted. "That's one vote for Fred, one vote for George, one vote for me, one vote for Ron, and… two votes… for Ninja." She gave Fred and George exasperated looks. "Really?"

"Really," they chorused.

Cathie thought of something. "Okay – in that case, let's just let Ninja decide who should go first." She turned to her cat. "Ninja, just sit on whoever you choose." Ninja looked around, then walked over to Fred and sat down. "Ninja!" Cathie exclaimed. "Come on, seriously? I guess that's what I get for taking in a stray, you lousy traitor."

Ninja smirked.

Fred handed Ninja another treat. "Good girl!" He observed everyone. "So do I just choose now?"

Cathie shrugged. "Yeah, if you like – although some people play it a different way. They put a bottle in the center and spin it to decide who they choose. Do we want to do things that way?"

Fred nodded. "That sounds good." Everyone else agreed, so Fred ran upstairs to his dorm and returned with an empty bottle.

"Why do you have an empty bottle in your dorm?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"The less you know, the better." George winked.

Fred placed the bottle in the middle of the circle. "Ninja, would you like to do the honors?" Ninja swatted the bottle and sent it spinning. It landed on Harry. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Fred scratched his head. "Uh, have you ever…, I don't know…, stolen anything?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Well, sort of. I've stolen food from the fridge when I wasn't allowed to have dinner, and other things like that." He spun the bottle. It landed on Ron. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Okay then, let's see… Speak in rhymes for the next five rounds."

Ron grimaced. "Seriously, Harry? That's what you're going with?" He thought hard. "This kind of dare will make our friendship a myth."

"Impressive," Cathie complimented him.

He spun the bottle. It landed on George. "Truth or dare? To Harry's, none can compare."

"Dare, obviously."

"Go to Professor Snape and ask for more homework. In his office is where he tends to lurk."

George scowled. "You officially suck. Fine, I'll be right back." He left, then returned with the biggest stack of paper Cathie had ever seen. "This is going to take forever," he complained. He dropped it in a pile on one of the couches and spun the bottle. It landed on Cathie. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What's the dumbest thing you've ever done on a dare?"

Cathie frowned. "That's a hard question to answer. I mean, I've done some really dumb things. Let's see… I think I purposely fell down stairs once."

Fred gaped at her. "You did what? What's wrong with you? What kind of idiot falls down stairs on a dare?"

"That's what my mom said!" Cathie exclaimed cheerfully. She spun the bottle. It landed on Ron. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare… er… one like that, I cannot bear."

"Now you also have to sing for the next five rounds, instead of speaking."

Ron groaned. "I hate you people. I… wish you'd all turn into beetles?"

Cathie shook her head. "Beetle and people don't rhyme, sorry. And you forgot to sing!"

Ron glared, then spun the bottle. It landed on Cathie. He grinned maliciously. "Truth or dare? Whatever you choose, my question will make you swear."

"Truth."

"Do you have a crush on anyone? Your answer, I'm sure, will embarrass you a ton."

"No, it won't," Cathie contradicted, "because, sadly for you, I do not have a crush on anyone. Sorry!"

The game continued for a few more rounds, until they all went down to dinner. Cathie stayed behind to give Ninja some food, and Neville stayed with her. Then they rejoined the group. Dinner didn't last long; everyone was too excited to eat much. When they returned to the common room, they headed up to their dorms. Cathie hopped into bed immediately, too tired to care about changing. Equally weary, Ninja hopped up too and curled up on her chest. The day had been fun, but exhausting all the same.

 

 

When she woke up the next morning, there was a relatively small pile of presents at the foot of her bed, though it was a bit bigger than usual. Grinning, Cathie made to open the present on top, but a note flew into her dorm and landed on her bed.

Come to breakfast as soon as you finish opening your presents, and hurry up! – Fred

Cathie put it on her nightstand and got started. The top layer was presents from back home; a film camera from her mother (for taking pictures without technology), a typewriter from her sister (for writing without technology), the French translation of all three Lord of the Rings books from Tierney (Les Seigneur des Anneaux), and a book on writing from Kaylyn. To her surprise, there were also presents from Neville, Lee, Fred, George, and Daphne. Neville wasn't really unexpected, but the rest were, especially Daphne. Cathie felt awful; she hadn't gotten anything for Daphne.

Fred, George, and Daphne had gotten her books. From Fred was Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. It seemed to be kind of like a book for pranksters. Cathie beamed when she saw the title of the one from George – Magical Moral Perspective. It was a book on wizard law, something she'd been interested in since being introduced to the wizard world. From Daphne was Curses & Counter-Curses, with a note attached, saying, 'Try some of these next time you want to fight a troll!'

Lee had gotten her something called a Quick-Quotes Quill. Apparently it would record everything you said as you said it. That was an excellent thing for Cathie to have – she could never stand writing by hand because her hand couldn't keep up with her brain as it churned out the words to her stories. Neville had gotten her a Tracking Collar. The instructions said to put it on your pet and then perform a spell (Animalis Inveniro). Your wand would feel a light tug in the direction of the collar. Cathie adored all five presents.

She got out of bed and tripped over a small, lumpy package. Curious, she opened it up and discovered a thick, hand-knitted sweater in dark brown and a large box of homemade fudge.

She picked up the note that had come with it.

From Mrs. Weasley

Smiling, Cathie pulled the sweater over her torso and put all seven books in a pile. Then she trudged downstairs with it in her arms. When she reached the table, all the Gryffindors – including Percy – were sitting in a group. She plopped onto a seat next to Neville and across from Fred, then placed the stack of books on the table.

Everyone looked up. "Hey, Cathie's got a Weasley sweater too!" Ron exclaimed.

"I guess Mum took us seriously when we told her Cathie had convinced us to turn over a new leaf," George mused, frowned at Fred.

Cathie piled some food on her plate. "Thanks for the gifts! They were all fantastic."

Fred stared at her. "One second." He took a great big sip of his pumpkin juice, then did a spit-take. "Are you kidding me? I got you some lousy book about pranking, and you got me a replica of the Falmouth Falcons Beater bat! That's, like, priceless!"

Cathie flushed. "I, uh, well, it's not like I'm short of money. I just kind of figured, why not buy the best things I can find for you guys?"

George shook his head. "I can't even comprehend having that much money."

"Believe me, I know what that's like," Cathie told him. "But my mom got a lucky break when I was seven or eight, so…, here I am."

"Cathie, you don't understand. We're probably the poorest people in Hogwarts, probably. Our house is – well, it's honestly not even a real house. It's lopsided and all patched up…. Not a very pretty sight." George grimaced.

"You don't think I understand? Tell me, do you all have your own rooms?"

"…Well, Fred and I don't, but other than that, yeah."

"Can your family always pay the bills?"

"Just barely."

"Always have enough food?"

"Actually, we never seem to run out of food, but other than that –"

"'Other than that' nothing. My family all slept in one room, rarely had running water let alone hot water, and don't even get me started on the food situation. You guys think you get bullied for your lack of wealth? Even before Cadence started bullying me, we were practically broke, living in this gorgeous house in a huge, wealthy neighborhood, because we inherited the house from my grandma."

Fred and George were silent for a while, looking at her in surprise. The others were silent, too; Percy had his head in a book, apparently ignoring them all, and Harry and Neville were looking at her the same way the other two were. Ron was scowling at his plate.

"In any case," George cut in, "they're still awesome gifts."

Cathie smiled. "Thanks. I try."

"And I'm actually really impressed that you got me the Holyhead Harpies Beater bat replica – no one ever remembers that Fred and I support different teams. They either only remember one of the teams we like, or maybe think that we like other teams but then think, 'nah, they're the Weasley Twins, of course they like the same team.'"

"And this was a great find, too," Neville put in, holding up the book she'd bought him, When There's a Wand, There's a Way. "Probably one of the best gifts I got today." He, Cathie noticed, also had a stack of books, albeit a bit shorter than Cathie's. The other three were Potion Opuscule, an elementary Potions book, Healing at Home with Herbs, a book about Healing and Herbology (as the name suggested), and Charms of Defense and Deterrence, a book rather like Curses & Counter-Curses.

"Did Daphne get you that top one?" Cathie asked. Neville nodded. "She got me something similar." Cathie held up her book.

Neville sighed. "I didn't get her anything. I feel awful about it."

"Me too – I didn't get her anything either."

All of a sudden, a loud, familiar meow echoed throughout the Great Hall. Cathie pushed her stack of books aside to find Ninja sitting on the table between her and Fred. "Ninja!" Cathie exclaimed, scandalized. "What are you doing here? How did you even get out of the common room? Never mind – I'll be right back, guys, I gotta run Ninja upstairs."

Cathie swept Ninja into her arms (the cat yelped in a very undignified way) but then Professor McGonagall came over. "Don't worry, Miss McGinley. None of the students here are allergic to cats, so just this once, I suppose it's alright."

"How do you know which students are allergic to cats?" Cathie asked curiously.

"All the parents are asked if their child has any allergies once the child is invited to Hogwarts."

"My aunt and uncle weren't," Harry piped up.

Professor McGonagall frowned. "Yes, well, your invitation was a bit unorthodox. Anyway, Miss McGinley, it is Christmas, so for today your pet will be permitted to stay."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Cathie smiled gratefully and released Ninja, who made a beeline for her Head of House and climbed up onto the professor's shoulder immediately.

Everyone stared.

"Huh," Cathie mused. "I've never seen her do that before, only her sister and nephew. Well, in any case, she seems to like you, Professor."

"She would," Professor McGonagall commented, eyeing the cat who was perched on her shoulder like a parrot. "I am a cat Animagus, after all."

"Animagus? What's that?" Ron questioned.

"You'll find out in third year. Now, down you go." She carefully pried Ninja from her shoulder and set her down on the table, then walked back to the Head Table.

Fred and George frog-marched Percy for a snowball fight. Cathie made to follow, but Neville pulled her back. "Harry, can we tell her about that present you got?" he asked hopefully.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "Sure, I guess," Harry agreed. "She's trustworthy enough."

"Slapping Malfoy will always make a person trustworthy," Ron seconded.

Neville beamed at Cathie. "Harry got an Invisibility Cloak!"

"Really?" Cathie gasped. "I read about those – they're incredibly rare, and expensive, I'm sure. Who gave it to you?"

"We don't know," Ron revealed. "That's the mystery of it."

"Whoa." Cathie shook her head, amazed.

They followed the other three Weasleys out to the grounds for a snowball fight. Ninja chased after them, and in the end, the teams were Cathie, Ninja, Neville and Harry versus the Weasleys. Of course, Ninja decided partway through to switch sides and help Fred's team out, so Cathie proposed a trade; Ninja for Ron. It turned out to be a good trade, which Cathie rubbed in Ninja's face for the rest of the evening and received the silent treatment for.

In the end, Cathie's team won. Everyone retired to the common room, and after some Wizard Chess and Exploding Snap, and then dinner, they sat together in the common room talking.

"In your face, Ninja," Cathie mumbled as she struggled to stay awake.

Everyone shot her amused looks as she yawned loudly. "Maybe you should head up to bed, Cathie," Fred suggested.

Cathie shook her head. "No… I… want to… stay down he-…." Her exhaustion coming to a head, she nodded off mid-sentence. The others snorted and carried on.

 

 

She awoke at some point in the night to footsteps in the dark common room. She hastily got out her wand and called out, "Lumos Solem!" Her wand tip ignited, brightening the whole room, but she didn't see anyone. "…Harry? Is that you?"

Harry's head popped into existence. "Uh, yeah, it's me. What are you doing down here?"

"Apparently no one saw fit to wake me up."

Harry scratched his head. "Sorry. We were all a bit tired."

"So what are you doing down here, anyway?"

"I, uh, well…. Actually, I haven't decided yet. Now that I think about it, I suppose I might go visit the Restricted Section in the library."

"Huh. Sounds like fun – I've always wanted to see that place."

"…Well…, do you wanna come? You could probably fit under this cloak, too. It's huge."

Cathie blinked. "Oh – sure, thanks!" She gently pushed Ninja off of her chest and onto a seat cushion, then slipped inside Harry's cloak.

They crept across the common room and climbed through the portrait hole. "Who's there?" the Fat Lady squawked. Neither Cathie nor Harry spoke a word, but instead quickly walked down the hallway. They arrived at the library soon; it was pitch-black, and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp so that they could see all the books, and even though Cathie knew that Harry's hand was there supporting it, the sight gave her the creeps.

The Restricted Section was at the very back of the library. They stepped carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest, and Harry held his lamp up to read the titles. They didn't tell them much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages neither of them understood. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of Cathie's neck prickled. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she thought she heard a faint whispering from the books, almost as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" Cathie whispered as Harry carefully set the lamp on the floor and peered at the books.

He gave her a long look, his expression unreadable. Finally he whispered back, "Yes. Don't tell anyone, but I'm looking for someone called Nicolas Flamel. Have you heard of him?"

Cathie shook her head. "Sorry." She turned to the books along the shelves curiously, looking for something interesting. She spotted a book called Moste Potente Potions and pulled it from the shelf, flipping to a random page. It was titled Laxative Potion. Ooh, she thought excitedly. I'd love to use this one on Malfoy and Cadence! She eagerly scanned the recipe, but before she got even halfway, she heard a piercing, bloodcurdling shriek. Alarmed, she quickly looked down to see Harry slam a book shut, looking terrified. The shriek went on and on regardless, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. Harry stumbled backwards and knocked over the lamp, which went out at once. Cathie and he heard footsteps coming down the hallway – panicking, they stuffed their books back on the shelves and ran for it. They passed Filch in the doorway; his pale, wild eyes stared right through the duo, and so they slipped under his outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor.

Harry came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armor. Cathie halted, too, and glanced back in confusion. "What are you doing? Aren't we going back to the common room?"

"Oh, is that in this direction?" Harry asked, sounding relieved.

Cathie frowned and looked around. "Oh, um…, maybe? Sorry, I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Me either," Harry admitted.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and someone's been in the library – Restricted Section."

Cathie felt the blood drain out of her face. Wherever she and Harry were, Filch must've known a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to their collective horror, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

The two Gryffindors stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. The professors couldn't see the first-years, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if the professors came much nearer they'd knock right into the first-years – the Cloak didn't stop them from being solid.

Cathie and Harry backed away as quietly as they could. A door stood ajar to their left. It was their only hope. They squeezed through it, holding their breath, trying not to move it, and to their relief they managed to get inside the room without their older counterparts noticing anything. The professors walked straight past, and the rule-breakers leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening as the footsteps of their doom died away. That had been close, very lose. It was a few seconds before Cathie noticed anything about the room they had hidden in.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket – but propped against the wall facing her was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way. It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. Here as an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Her panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Cathie shrugged off the cloak and strode forward to peer at the peculiar inscription. She thought the words looked familiar, but she couldn't be sure. "What language do you think that is?" she asked Harry after a while. Frowning when there was no response, she turned. "Harry? You alright?"

He was staring into the mirror, white and scared-looking. "Cathie," he croaked. "Cathie, come look at this." She obliged, standing behind him. "Do you see that? It's my parents! And a whole bunch of other people who look like me – they must be my other family members!"

Cathie narrowed her eyes. "I only see you and me." Then she paused, looking closer. "And… my mom…, and my cousin…, and my sister…, and my cats…, and Neville, and Lee, and Fred, and George, and Hermione and Daphne and Ron and even – and even Cadence! What's with this mirror?"

"I thought maybe, if it didn't show my family, it might show yours." Harry tilted his head to the side. "I don't know, Cathie."

But she had an inkling. "Maybe… well…" Her voice lowered to a thoughtful, tentative murmur. "…Maybe I am looking at my family." Maybe you are my family. She didn't say it, but as Harry took her hand and smiled at her, she thought maybe he'd heard her anyway. And for once, she didn't mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend for that scene with Cathie and Harry at the end to happen, but she fell asleep in the common room and everything else kinda snowballed. Hope it doesn't strike you as too cliche.


	12. If You're Flawless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is going great for Cathie until she runs into someone she had quite happily forgotten about. Things go downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! So, so, SO sorry that this is more than twenty-four hours late. I haven't had internet since Sunday night and I haven't had transportation since - I don't know, August? Anyway, no transportation to get me to a place with internet, and I honestly would've walked since the library is no more than twenty minutes walking distance, except that I've been packing up everything in my house because I need to move by Friday at 3 PM. It's... not a happy thing. So, on the chapter - also sorry that it came out so angsty. I'm afraid the next one is angstier. I try to stay away from the cliche little girl angsting over nothing but this is a really important part of Cathie's character development. I think I might make next year the official first story and have this be a sort of prequel that people might like to read if they want to see more of where Cathie came from. Let me know what you think.
> 
> And about the chicken leg... yeah, sorry about that too, I really don't know where that came from. And, fun fact, Cathie's threat to Ron is actually something that was going to happen to someone at some point before I decided I'd rather keep the story rated T if I can.

Date: Wed. – Thurs., 26-27 February, 1992

Theme Song: Perfect by Alanis Morissette

 

"You could have woken me up." Ron scowled crossly the next morning at breakfast.

"You can come tonight," Harry suggested. "I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron agreed eagerly.

"It's probably not going to show Harry's family," Cathie reasoned. "It showed mine when I looked in the mirror, so it'll probably show yours when you look and Neville's when he looks."

"I do wonder how we're all going to fit in that cloak of yours, though," Neville mused.

Cathie tilted her head to the side, considering this. "Well, I don't really need to come," she pointed out. "The three of you shouldn't have too difficult a time fitting in. I'll just stay in the dorm tonight."

Later on, that night, Cathie was the only person left in the common room, and was using a laser pointer to play with Ninja when she heard footsteps, and the portrait hole opened up. "Good luck," she called quietly.

"Thanks," Neville's voice whispered back.

The next day, they were all at breakfast once more when Neville turned to her and said, "By the way, Ron and I didn't see our families in the mirror. We saw ourselves as Head Boys, and Quidditch Captains. Isn't that strange?"

She frowned, tiling her head thoughtfully. "Maybe it shows a different thing, depending on who you are," she suggested. "There's something that connects Harry and I, and there's something that connects you and Ron, and that's what made the difference."

 

Life was good for her for another couple of months, but of course, perfection could never last long. The day started out fine. She woke up around seven in the morning, and Hermione quickly said, "Finite Incantatem," waving her wand over Cathie.

"Thanks!" Cathie hopped out of bed and brought her clothes to the bathroom to get dressed, while the other girls dressed in the dorm. She had never felt comfortable doing that, and they were alright with her borrowing the bathroom, since she was the fastest dresser anyway. She unlocked the door when she was done, and Hermione came in. She brushed her teeth while Hermione washed her face; then they switched. Then, both of them went back into the dorm to get their things together. Lavender and Parvati, who had already done this, went to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces. "What day is it?" Cathie asked.

"Wednesday," Hermione answered.

"Ah, so we have Herbology, History of Magic, Defense, and Astronomy." Cathie gathered three books – A History of Magic, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection – and her dismantled telescope and packed them all into her backpack. Then she and Hermione headed down to the common room, where Hermione, Harry and Ron headed to breakfast. "I'll be right there," she told them. "I'm waiting for Neville."

After a few moments, Lee, Fred and George came down. "Hey Cathie," Fred greeted her. "Waiting for Neville again?"

"Yep," Cathie laughed. "He always takes about ten minutes longer than the others, but I'm a fast eater, so it works out fine."

"I'll wait with you," Lee offered. "Fred, George, you can go on ahead." They left, and Lee turned to Cathie. "So, how've you been?"

"'How've I been?'" Cathie echoed, amused. "I see you, like, every day. Don't you already know how I've been?"

"Well, yeah, but I never actually ask you. There's a difference."

She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I've been… good. I've been good." She smiled. She hadn't been able to say that for… well, forever, really. She'd never had the best of both worlds before. First she had her parents and Cadence and at least a few friends in the neighborhood who weren't as spiteful as the rest, but she'd had no money, so no entertainment and barely enough food and other awful things. Then her father had walked out and her mother had built her company, and so she'd had anything she could ever ask for, except friends, because Cadence made sure of that. Nowadays she still had money, but she'd also made so many friends, friends she really trusted. Well, with her track record, she couldn't really trust them all because she didn't feel she knew them all quite well enough, but she could certainly trust Neville, and Hermione, and Lee, to name a few.

Lee grinned. "That's what I like to hear. You know, I never thought I'd enjoy teaching this much. If only training someone in the ways of the prankster could be a profession – I'd be set for life."

Then Neville came down, and the three of them headed to breakfast. Lee headed over to join his classmates, and Cathie and Neville joined theirs. She was putting some sausages on her plate when Neville turned to her and said, "Can you look over my Astronomy homework real quick? I just want to make sure I didn't make any mistakes."

"Sure," Cathie agreed. She took the paper from him and immediately frowned in horror. "Neville, you… uh… I don't know how to tell you this but, well, you did an essay on the wrong planet."

"What?!" Neville yelped. "It was on Saturn, right?"

"No…." Cathie grimaced. "Sorry, Neville, it was on Uranus. Ron, I will cut your eyes out of their sockets and force-feed them to you." Ron promptly stopped giggling. "Don't worry, Neville, I'll help you fix it. Astronomy isn't till Midnight, so if we put our heads together, I'm sure we can manage."

Neville beamed at her. "Thanks, Cathie. I don't know what I'd do without a brilliant friend like you."

After History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Cathie arranged to meet up with Neville at the library to work on his homework. She was walking through the corridor towards it when she remembered something. My Quick-Quotes Quill! There was no point in bringing it to class, since she couldn't interrupt class by talking to it, but it would be handy here because it could keep track of what she and Neville were saying, and as long as she was quiet, Madam Pince didn't mind. She turned on the spot, and accidentally turned right into someone. The other person dropped all their books. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "Here, let me get these for you."

She knelt down as the other person knelt down too, saying, "No, it's alright, it was my fault. I can get these – wait – Cathie?"

Frowning, Cathie looked up – right at Elliott Garth, Kaylyn's older brother. "Oh," she muttered. "Elliott. Nice to see you."

He snorted. "Don't lie, of course it's not." She rose, suddenly not feeling quite generous enough to help him, and he gathered the books on his own. Then he got up and faced her. "I'd forgotten that you were attending Hogwarts instead of Salem."

"Me too. I mean, I'd forgotten that you were." And how pleasant it was back then, five seconds ago.

He narrowed his eyes at her, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and was thinking something very similar. "I heard Cadence has been telling me that you're half-bloods. I haven't really spoken to him personally except for a couple of times – Gryffindors associating with Slytherins is generally frowned upon, and neither of us want to look bad."

"Of course not." Because, you know, bullying doesn't look bad. Where was this attitude back home?

"It wouldn't surprise me if you were half-bloods, actually, since siblings usually aren't both magic unless there's some magic in their blood."

"I think I'd have noticed in the seven years I lived with him if my father was a wizard."

"According to Cadence, he was, and was open about it with him, if not you too."

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Slytherins aren't the most honest people around."

Elliott scowled. "Doesn't mean they're always lying – and it doesn't mean Gryffindors are always honest, either. Or have you forgotten?"

Cathie met his gaze. "No, I haven't forgotten that you somehow deluded yourself into believing you have a right to my past."

"That was never the problem – but you lied about – well, almost everything."

"I told you my father walked out – and he did. He chose to leave."

"Or what? Don't you remember the alternative?"

"He put himself in that position."

Elliott shook his head. "That wasn't even all of it. You also said that you used to be poor."

"I did."

"Sure, you did. It doesn't even matter." He rolled his eyes. "Your friends might see a smart, brave, loyal friend, but soon they'll see the attention-seeking liar underneath the façade."

Cathie lifted her chin. "You're wrong. They know who I am, and they're my friends anyway."

Elliott shrugged. "Tell yourself what you like. I don't have time to sit here and argue with you." He walked away with his things. More unsettled than she should have been by an encounter with someone like him, and infuriated with herself for letting someone like him get to her, she stormed off in the other direction.

She reached the library, and Hermione and Neville were already there working on the essay. "Hey Cathie!" Neville greeted her as she dropped her backpack and sat down at their table. "Hermione decided to help – and we're halfway through. If you want to go ahead to lunch, feel free – I think we can handle this. You help me with enough of my homework, after all; I hate burdening you so much."

Cathie stared at him for a couple of moments. "I – well – that's alright, Neville, you know I don't mind. I can skip one meal, I'll be fine."

"If you're sure." He and Hermione started talking again, and Cathie listened, feeling strangely out-of-place.

The day continued on as usual. Until Herbology. Cathie's worst class. "Test results are back!" Professor Sprout announced. "I'm passing them out now." Cathie tensed, as she always did before a test result came back – more so than she did before the actual test, in fact – but it was always pointless. She didn't think she'd gotten a single A yet at Hogwarts, just E's and more often O's. Professor Sprout came nearer and nearer, passing out Harry's result, then Hermione's, then Neville's, then – oh God – Cathie's. She didn't look too pleased – why didn't she look pleased? Cathie had done terribly, she just knew it – there was a first time for everything, after all, and if she was going to fail anywhere it would be Herbology – but as she looked at the parchment, she instinctively relaxed, so used to building up tension and letting it all out as she found her score.

Then she tensed all over again.

It wasn't an O. Or an E. It wasn't even an A. It was a P.

"Cathie, Cathie, I got an E! A real E!" Neville turned to her in excitement. "What'd you get? You must've gotten an O – after all, if even I got an E, you must have breezed through the thing."

Cathie slowly turned toward Neville, trying not to panic. It was just one failing grade, after all, she could survive. One P was not the end of the world. She wouldn't let it be. "I, uh, I got an E too. You forget, Neville, I'm not very good at Herbology. You're probably better than me here." Why did you lie? Why can you never just accept your shortcomings?

"Better than you? Nah, I don't think anyone's better than you at, well, anything. Except for the upper-years, of course, who have already gone through these classes, but you – and Hermione – must be the best in our year!" Neville turned back to his paper. "I wonder what I got wrong… Oh, of course, aconite is most common in Scotland, not Ireland…."

Cathie turned back to her paper, suddenly nauseous.

That night, Cathie took her Herbology textbook out at dinner. "What are you doing with that?" Neville asked curiously. "You did fine on the test, Cathie. You don't have to get O's at everything. An E every once in the while is probably way better than most students' averages anyway."

"You can never study too much," Cathie reasoned, putting some food on her plate.

Dinner ended, and students started going back to their common rooms as Cathie glanced down regretfully at the rest of her food. There was still a chicken leg left, but she didn't have time to eat it. She was one of the last people there, along with Neville and Hermione. "I told you not to study at dinner," Hermione scolded her. "Now you've missed lunch and part of dinner."

"Maybe if you ask Professor McGonagall, she'll let you have something else before bed," Neville suggested.

Cathie rolled her eyes. "You guys worry too much. It's not like I missed dinner entirely – just one chicken leg. I already had a thigh and some fries – I'll be fine until breakfast tomorrow."

"…Alright, but you better not make a habit of this," Hermione told her.

"I won't," Cathie promised.

 

 

"Hey Cathie," Neville greeted her. "Sorry, you're too late. Hermione already finished my essay – and it only took half-an-hour! Thank God I have such a brilliant friend, right?"

"Not Cathie, though," Lee chortled. "Cathie only got a P on her Herbology test! Can you imagine that?"

"You told me it was an E. Why'd you tell me it was an E, Cathie?"

"Not smart enough for an E," Hermione sang.

"Not brave enough to tell you the truth," Ron added.

"Not loyal enough to tell you the truth," Harry put in.

"Mmm, I smell so tasty," Chicken Leg hummed. "I bet you want to eat me, don't you? Too bad! Liars don't get chicken legs!" He took a bite out of himself. "Mmm, I taste tasty, too…."

Cathie sat upright in her bed, gasping – except she couldn't gasp, because Hermione wasn't awake to un-Silence her. Good thing, too, because she didn't want to wake anyone up because of a stupid nightmare, especially not in the middle of the night. She glanced at the clock on the wall – she'd fallen asleep at eleven, and it was four in the morning. She considered her options. Five hours wasn't the right amount of sleep, but it was good enough. She'd certainly handled less than that before, anyway. Besides, she didn't want to go back to sleep and have more nightmares. Usually, if she had a nightmare that woke her up, going back to sleep would only result in one of those nights she spent tossing and turning, waking up every few seconds after yet another nightmare, and she was really not in the mood. She wondered what she should do until morning – well, that was easy enough. Study Herbology, of course.

Three hours later, Hermione woke up. "Cathie? What are you doing up? You never get up before me." Cathie glanced up from her book and gestured to her throat. Understanding, Hermione got her wand and cast Finite. Then she frowned. "Cathie…, have you… have you been studying that thing all night?"

Cathie almost denied it outright, but then she remembered her nightmare, and instead opted for, "Not all night. I woke up after five hours sleep and figured I didn't really need more."

Hermione frowned more, peering at Cathie. "Are you alright, Cathie? First dinner, now this…. Did something happen?"

"No, of course not." Liars don't get chicken legs, she reminded herself sternly. "Well, nothing major, anyway," she amended.

Hermione kept frowning, but nodded. "If you say so, Cathie." The two of them got ready for the day the same way they always did, and made their way to breakfast. Cathie made to open her Herbology book, but Hermione snatched it out of her hands.

"Hey!" Cathie complained. "I need that!"

"No, you don't," Hermione contradicted. "You got an E, Cathie, you're fine. What you do need is to not miss another meal."

"I didn't miss a meal, I missed a chicken leg, that's it," Cathie grumbled, but she obliged, piling some food on her plate. When she was done wolfing it down, Hermione reluctantly returned the textbook, and Cathie studied for a while until breakfast ended.

Charms went as normal. There was a test in Transfiguration, so Cathie quickly reviewed the material for five minutes before it began. It was on Switching Spells. Each student had to perform it thrice; once on two small objects, once on two large objects, and once on a small object and a large object. Professor McGonagall hadn't told them what these objects would be; she had said she didn't want them to practice with those particular objects, since in the real world you wouldn't get the chance to practice before needing to perform. She would be calling them up to her desk one at a time; in the meantime, the other students would be working on the written portion of their tests. As Lavender walked up to Professor McGonagall's desk for the practical, Cathie looked at the first question. What is the incantation for a Switching Spell? That was an easy one. Commutatio, she wrote. What is the wand movement for a Switching Spell? Also pretty easy. Cathie drew the symbol beneath the question.

However, it only got harder from there. Cathie found herself indecisive and uncertain throughout what seemed like the entire test. She kept having that niggling feeling where she knew the answer but couldn't remember it, and by the time it was her turn to perform the spell, she'd still only answered one more question and guessed at a few. At least she did perform the spells flawlessly – the items turned out to be a mug, a book, a chair, and an end table. But when she went back to her test, she was only able to answer a couple more and guess on most of the rest before Professor McGonagall called out, "Time's up! Please pass your tests forward."

Shocked, Cathie numbly passed her test forward and slumped back in her chair, trying to think. How had she forgotten all the answers? First Herbology, now Transfiguration – what was wrong with her lately?

Class ended, and Cathie turned to Neville with one of the fakest smiles she'd ever worn on her face. "I'm going to study some more," she told him. "I'm going to have lunch in the kitchen; that way, when I'm done eating, I can study without the clamor of the Great Hall."

"Oh, you know where the kitchen is?" Neville asked interestedly.

Cathie had already prepared for this question. "I'd tell you where, but a teacher told me and made me promise not to tell anyone else, or to say exactly who told me. Sorry."

As she headed to the kitchen, she told herself that that kind of lie was alright. She wasn't lying for herself; she was lying to protect a secret belonging to Lee, Fred and George. She felt guilty anyway, of course. She had always hated lying, but when caught off-guard it was the most instinctive reaction, for her. She went to the kitchen, asked a house-elf to bring her a bagel, and studied her Transfiguration textbook, repeatedly pausing to facepalm. By the time the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch, she had barely finished half the bagel. She reluctantly put her textbook away and abandoned the rest of her meal so that she could make her way to Flying class.

The second she was up in the air, she immediately felt nauseous. Neville balanced precariously nearby, frowning at her. "You alright, Cathie?"

"Yeah, I just feel a bit sick," she responded with as much cheer as she could muster, determinedly not looking at the ground. She had mostly gotten over her fear of heights after so many classes, at least when she was on a broom, but looking at the ground still made her a bit dizzy sometimes, so looking down at the moment would not be smart.

"She didn't sleep well last night," Hermione provided, hovering only a tad more comfortably than Neville.

"Oh." Neville narrowed his eyes. "Maybe you ought to skip Flying today, then, and go see Madam Pomfrey."

Cathie shook her head. "No, I – I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm fine."

"I don't know," Neville muttered, looking at her in concern.

Hermione nodded. "I'll go tell her," she offered.

"No – 'Mione, that's okay – " Cathie objected, but her friend stubbornly flew off towards the teacher anyway. Cathie reluctantly followed.

Dean flew up to her. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You don't look well."

Cathie shrugged. "Didn't get enough sleep. I guess it's coming back to bite me. Hermione insisted on telling Madam Hooch, so I guess that's that."

"Well, I hope you feel better," Dean said, and flew back to Seamus and Ron. Harry hadn't been attending Flying classes, since he was on the Quidditch team anyway.

"Miss McGinley, Miss Granger says you're not well. Is that true?"

Cathie nodded in response to Madam Hooch's inquiry. "Er, yes, it is. I mean, if you really want me to, I can probably stomach some light flying – "

"Nonsense. You're one of the better fliers here, so I'm sure missing one lesson won't do you too much harm. Go on and get something from Madam Pomfrey, and if you're feeling better before the end of the lesson, you can come back and get a bit of practice in."

Cathie nodded again and reluctantly dismounted her broom and handed it to Madam Hooch. Then she waved to Hermione and Neville and headed into Hogwarts.

Once she was at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, you and that Potter boy are going to be regulars here soon…," she muttered. "Well, what's the problem this time?"

"I feel a bit nauseous," Cathie stated. "So Madam Hooch sent me here, rather than have me continue Flying class."

Madam Hooch frowned. Cathie wondered just how many more people would frown at her before the day ended. "Very well. It's not particularly rare for students to feel sick during Flying class, so there's probably nothing too wrong with you. Just take this and see how you feel afterwards." Cathie accepted the dark yellow potion and chugged it. "The effects aren't immediate, so wait five or ten minutes and then tell me if it worked. If not, there might be something else going on here." Cathie nodded and got her Transfiguration textbook out to study a bit while Madam Pomfrey went back into her office. She kept an eye on the time, and ten minutes later, she thought she did feel a bit better; certainly well enough to fly around for a bit, in any case. She knocked on Madam Pomfrey's door and called, "Madam Pomfrey? I'm okay now, so I'm gonna go back to class, okay?" She received an affirmative response, so she headed back to the Quidditch field and rejoined the class.

That night, she attended dinner, figuring that Hermione would fuss if she wasn't there to watch Cathie like a hawk and make sure she ate enough. Cathie felt a bit unsettled by the sight of chicken, so she instead opted to have some roast beef with the rest of her meal. She put a little less on her plate than usual, but just a little; after all, though she wanted extra time to study, she ought to make sure she had a substantial amount so that she wouldn't have a repeat of Flying class. As soon as she had finished eating, she made her excuses and headed to the library to do a bit more studying before bed. I'll spend some time with my friends later, she promised herself. I must've let my studies slip, so I just have to catch up with them, that's all. When she arrived, she spotted Daphne at a table. Smiling, she headed right over. "Is this seat taken?" she asked.

Daphne looked up and shook her head. "No, by all means, sit." As Cathie sat down, the Slytherin added, "What's up? You looked a bit… not tired… weary. That's the word, weary."

Cathie shrugged. "I got a couple of bad grades," she explained. "So I've just been putting more effort into class."

"Oh, okay." Daphne shrugged. "Anyway, is your Potions homework ready for tomorrow?" Cathie blinked. We have homework? "Just kidding!"

Exasperated, Cathie slugged her friend in the arm. "Speaking of which, how is yours and Cadence's project coming along? It's due in two weeks, you know." She wrinkled her nose upon saying Cadence's name. Apparently Cadence and Daphne had actually become friends after Halloween. Odd, that. Daphne, Cathie and Neville always partnered up during Potions class; they would rotate, so that one Gryffindor would be with Daphne and the other would be with Hermione. If Cathie and Neville were partnering, Daphne would partner with Cadence, which is how she ended up working on the project with him.

"It's coming along well," Daphne answered. "I know you're not gonna like this, but Cadence is actually dare I say pleasant when you're not involved."

Cathie shuddered. "I can't even imagine it."

Daphne went back to what she was doing, and Cathie went on studying all her textbooks, since apparently she could no longer even predict which ones she was bad at and when she would be bad at it. She stayed there until Daphne prodded her and said, "It's almost curfew – are you gonna go back to your house, or are you planning to camp out here all night?'

Cathie stared. "Really? Already? Wow, time flies fast…. Anyway, you're one to talk, you know." She laughed. "I bet you would sleep here if you could."

"True," Daphne conceded. "But I don't have any friends in my dorm, or my class, or my house, or really anywhere, except for you, Cadence, Neville, and Hermione."

"Hermione? I didn't know you two were friends."

"Well, I spend all my spare time here, and she seems to spend quite a bit of hers here too, so we ended up becoming friendly. Anyway, that's not important. What are you doing, hiding out in a library all night instead of spending time with you friends?"

Cathie shrugged. "Studying. I'm in Gryffindor, after all, probably the hardest place in the entire world to study."

"Ah, that is a good point. Well, in any case, we better go." They packed up and exited the library, then went their separate ways; Daphne to Slytherin, Cathie to Gryffindor. There were very few people left in the common room, and none of them people Cathie knew particularly well, so she wordlessly slipped up to her dorm, got ready for bed, and slid into it. Then she got out her Potions textbook. That was her only class tomorrow, and though it was her best, it was also the one she could least afford to do badly in; Snape was not the fairest of people. Around eleven, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Glancing to the side, Cathie saw that it was Hermione. "Aren't you going to bed?" the bookworm asked, concerned.

Cathie frowned. "Why, what time is it?"

"Eleven."

She winced. "I, uh, I want to get a bit more studying in. Don't worry, I won't stay up too late."

Hermione gave her a suspicious look, but nodded. "Alright, fine, just make sure you don't." She went to bed.

Cathie looked at the time. So, it was eleven…. It wasn't as if Cathie really needed a lot of sleep; she had lots of practice handling small amounts of sleep, after all. Things had worked out fine that day; the flying incident was due to nerves, most likely, nerves from the bad Herbology grade and the upcoming bad Transfiguration grade. She could probably stay up until two or even three in the morning and have enough sleep for Potions class. Yes, she should be fine….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so a quick review of my reasoning behind Cathie's sudden meltdown. A) She fails an Herbology test. Well, for one, she really isn't good at Herbology, and normally gets E's in that class anyway. Second, Elliott's comment really did throw her off her game and distracted her. Third, since it had already put her off earlier, she got the wrong impression from something she normally wouldn't even have noticed (Hermione helping Neville with his homework). B) She does really, really badly on a Transfiguration test. Obviously she's still off her game and distracted from Elliott's comment, but now, in addition to that, she's also distracted because of how badly she did on the Herbology test. Then there's the fact that she only got five hours sleep, and while eight or even six hours is good enough for a teenager, Cathie isn't quite there yet and is still probably used to nine or ten hours of sleep. Then there's the fact that she's been absolutely stuffing her head with Herbology and mostly forgot about that Transfiguration test, so that added to her distraction. Basically Cathie had a really shitty couple of days and it's totally interfering with her grades.


	13. They Won't Let Me (Set Myself on Fire)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cathie's insecurity finally comes to light, albeit only before one person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry that it's late again! Um. I'd tell you I won't do it again, but my internet situation is... fragile, to say the least, so I can't make any promises. I'll start trying to post them every other Sunday for a while to ensure that you'll have one every other Monday, so hopefully that will fix things, unless I ever don't have internet both days. By the way, that story Cathie told her friends on Christmas? It's the same one she tells everyone else. Sorry, it didn't occur to me that I might have caused some confusion by not explaining why she wasn't telling them the truth. Of course, that's not a real explanation either. You'll be getting that later in the chapter, although you might already have guessed. Also, THIS IS THE END OF CATHIE ANGST UNTIL DECEMBER, 1993. Hurray! If it makes any of your feel better, I hated writing it as much as if not more than you hated reading it. And her angst in third year is totally deserved and for entirely different reasons.

Date: Mon. – Wed., 2- 4 March, 1992  
Theme Song #1: Lost in Paradise by Evanescence (better for listening to before reading)  
Theme Song #2: Invisible by Skylar Grey (better for listening to while reading)

 

"Cathie, you should probably get up." Cathie blinked blearily, then realized she couldn't see. Confused, she removed the book from on top of her face to see Hermione's face frowning down at her. "You must have fallen asleep studying again," she remarked disapprovingly. "That's twice this week. I think you're working yourself too hard."

"I'm fine," Cathie told her, getting out of bed and putting the book away. "I used to fall asleep with books on my face all the time. It's no big deal."

There was a short pause. Then, "…I heard you talk in your sleep, by the way." Cathie froze, then, slowly, rotated on the spot to face her friend. It hadn't even occurred to her that falling asleep without meaning to would result in forgetting to put the Silencing charm on. Hermione's face was unreadable. "Stress can cause nightmares, you know."

"I know." Cathie went into the bathroom to get dressed. When she came out, Hermione didn't say another word on the matter, and all was well. Until she realized what day it was. "We have Herbology today, don't we?"

"Yes." Hermione looked at her curiously. "You alright, Cathie?" If she had a knut for every time someone had asked her that that week…. "Something wrong with Herbology?"

"Nah, it's just my least favorite class." It would be the first Herbology class she'd had since that day. "I'm not very good at it." Understatement of the century. They headed down to the common room, where Cathie waited for Neville, then headed to breakfast with him. They sat down with the other first-year Gryffindors to eat. When she was finished, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and turned to see the Troublemaking Trio of Terror behind her. "Hey guys," she greeted them. "What's up?"

"I have detention tonight," Lee told her, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "…And tomorrow night…, and the night after that…, so our pranking lesson, young pupil, shall have to wait for Thursday. Sorry."

Cathie blinked. "Oh, um, no problem. I should be studying tonight – not that studying is more important than pranks, though, of course it's not – er, that is to say – "

"What have you been studying, how to ramble better?" Fred slugged her affectionately in the arm. "You don't need to worry about that, your rambling fine as it is. No one's expecting you to put pranking first, Cathie; after all, it's pretty clear that you actually want to do things with your life. All the three of us want to do is prank people – working at Zonko's is, like, my dream job. Don't think you need a lot of NEWTs for that." Cathie laughed.

"Although, not that you mention it, Cathie," George commented, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully a bit, "you seem to have been studying more than usual. Like, a lot more than usual. Maybe you ought to take a break tonight anyway."

"That's what I've been saying," Hermione voiced. Neville hesitated, tentatively opening his mouth, then closing it wordlessly.

"When Hermione Granger tells you to take a break, you take a break," Lee laughed. "Well, anyway, I just thought you ought to know that we're not practicing our pranking tonight. See you!" The Troublemaking Trio of Terror walked away.

Cathie considered Hermione for a few moments. "Like I said," she reminded her friend, "I'm just trying to get back up on top of my studies. Then I'll take some breaks, promise."

"Cathie, you're one of the most on-top-of-your-studies people I know," Neville insisted. "You don't need to study."

Cathie didn't bother arguing. They didn't understand. Because you didn't tell them, she pointed out to herself. She most definitely was not on top of her studies – and one of her defining qualities was being on top of her studies, so that was something she had to take great care to be.

Herbology and Charms both passed with very little event. At the end of Charms class, Cathie turned to Neville and said, "I'm going to the kitchen for lunch again."

"Alright." Neville shrugged.

Cathie headed towards the kitchen, then, as soon as he was out of earshot, switched directions and made for a classroom that she knew wasn't used during any lunch periods. She plopped into a seat at a random desk, pulled out a textbook, and began studying. The way she saw it, she figured that as long as she had big meals for breakfast and dinner, missing one meal a day wasn't so bad. So she spent lunch periods studying, and simply didn't study during breakfast and dinner. That was the most effective way to get her study time in.

After lunch, she headed towards History of Magic, her next class. On the way, she ran into Lee, Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, and Alicia, presumably heading to their respective classes. "Hey, Cathie," Katie greeted her. "I didn't see you at lunch – what were you up to?"

"I was just having lunch in the kitchen," Cathie told her. "I prefer it there – it's less noisy."

"Oh, okay." Katie shrugged.

They passed by, but as she walked away, a hand caught her shoulder. She turned around to face Fred. "I know you weren't in the kitchen," he stated, raising an eyebrow. "Because I was in the kitchen. I went there for lunch today so that I could ask one of the house-elves for a favor. I didn't see you there at all, and it's not like it's a very big place."

Cathie stared. For the life of her, she could not think of a way out of this one. "I – well, if you must know, I skipped lunch today. I didn't want to tell her because Hermione and Neville freaked out on me when I missed, like, one meal that one day, so I thought it would be simpler to just tell everyone I was eating in the kitchen. Okay?"

Fred eyed her suspiciously for a long while. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Okay, I believe you. Sorry, it's just that, well – someone lying about eating lunch is usually a bad sign, you know? But if this was a one-time thing, then that's fine. Well, I'll see you later – I gotta get to class." He turned and walked away, and as Cathie turned to walk towards her own class, she couldn't help but feel like she was missing something.

The next day, Cathie was extremely tense during breakfast. "What's up, Cathie?" Dean asked. "You've been stressed out lately, but not this much."

"Nothing," Cathie dismissed. "Just a little worried about the results of that Transfiguration test, that's all."

"Really? I thought it was pretty easy." Seamus frowned.

"Cathie's always worried about her test results," Lavender laughed. "Which is ridiculous, because she always gets near-perfect if not perfect grades."

"I am a bit paranoid when it comes to grades," Cathie admitted, latching onto the explanation Lavender had provided. "It's been almost a week since I took the test, so I don't really remember my answers or how many of them I was confident in."

She had the most impossible time focusing on the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that morning, which she felt was perfectly understandable, since she was so on edge and Professor Quirrell, if not for Binns, would be the most boring teacher she'd ever met. Then came Transfiguration. And the test results. And of course she already knew she was getting a T, because she deserved a T.

Yet somehow it still shocked her to see it written on the page.

Numb, she folded the parchment into a small square and put it away with her other papers. She barely heard a word Professor McGonagall said as the class continued, and was so distracted that it took someone giving her shoulders a hard shake to catch her attention. "Cathie?" Neville frowned at her. "The bell just rang. Class is over. You ready to go?" She nodded blankly, and walked out of class with him. "Are you alright, Cathie? You seem a bit out of it."

Cathie turned to him, trying to gather her thoughts. A T.

"What was your score on the test, anyway? Wait, wait, let me guess – an O, of course, right?"

"No," she contradicted quietly. "I think I'll head down to the kitchen now. See you, Neville."

"…Uh… s-see you," Neville stammered in confusion as she walked away.

She hid inside her unused classroom until the Entrance Hall had emptied out. Then she headed outside. There was one fairly short tree that she had grown fond of looking at from a window in the classroom – a tree that looked perfect for climbing. Cathie and Cadence used to climb trees all the time when they were younger. Lurking inside a tree where no one would think to look for her sounded like a good position for her at the moment. She searched through the grounds until she found it, and then she pulled herself up, branch by branch, until she was near the top of the tree. Then she pulled her test out and dropped it out of the tree. She pointed her wand at the slowly lowering sheet of paper and whispered, "Incendio." It went up in flames, and ashes fell on the grass. A small bit more satisfied, she sat back in the tree and pulled out a textbook. She felt tranquility settle over her for a few moments.

"I see you've chosen to skip lunch again." All of a sudden, Fred's voice reached her, and she looked down to see Fred lounging against the tree.

She blinked. It seemed he'd caught her in the act. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I was looking through unused classrooms and saw you in the window of one."

"That's how I found this tree, too."

After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Mind if I join you up there?" She shrugged, so he climbed up to rest on a branch just a little lower than hers, on the opposite side of the tree. "So, is there a reason you've decided to quit lunch? I mean, I'm assuming you have, since I certainly haven't been seeing you at lunch for about a week and I asked a house-elf today if you had shown up there for the past few days and received a negative response."

Cathie frowned. It hadn't even occurred to her that one could simply ask the house-elves if she'd been at the kitchen. She shrugged again. "I need more study time," she stated tonelessly.

He stared at her in disbelief for a while. Then he shook his head. "You're insane," he told her. "Your study time is not as important as your eating time. No wonder you don't look well lately."

"I'm eating fine," Cathie snapped impatiently. "It's my grades that aren't fine. I get two meals a day, that's enough to sustain a person. And I'm sleeping fine, too! Three or four hours is fine, Fred, you don't know what you're talking about."

There was a short pause. He hadn't mentioned sleeping. He hadn't mentioned sleeping. She was such an idiot.

"Right, I think you need to go to the kitchen and have a feast, and then you need to go to Gryffindor Tower and sleep, like, until Thursday. Next Thursday."

"Don't be ridiculous," Cathie retorted.

"I'm not being ridiculous. You need to eat, a lot, and you need to sleep, a lot, and I can tell Professor McGonagall what happened and I'm sure she'll be reasonable enough to let you off of your next class, and then you need to stop this, this, this whatever-you-think-you're-doing."

"Wait, you're serious?" Cathie exclaimed incredulous. "Fred, no, that's completely unnecessary – I'm fine, I said. I need to bump my grades up, that's all."

"Your grades aren't as important as your health, Cathie."

"Yes, they are," Cathie hissed. "My grades are what make me me, they're the reason I have friends, they're the only reason people like me, because people think I'm something I'm not and just like Elliott said if I'm not careful they realize I'm not anything and then – "

"Wait. Wait a second." Fred's voice was dangerously quiet. "Elliott Garth? My roommate, Elliott Garth?"

"Uh…." Cathie thought for a moment. That was right – Elliott was a third-year, and a Gryffindor, and so was Fred, so… "Yeah, I guess so."

"He set you off like this? He caused all of this? Oh, that son of a…."

"It doesn't matter. He was right. And class is going to start soon, so if you don't mind, I'm going to put an end to this fruitless conversation and go learn." She carefully climbed down the tree and walked away, aware of Fred's narrowed eyes burning into her backpack.

 

That night, she was studying in the library, like she did every night – alone, for once, since Daphne was working on her project with Cadence that night. Someone sat down at her table. She didn't have to look up to guess who it was. "Why are you here now, Fred?"

He huffed indignantly. "For your information, I was only here to tell you that it's almost curfew."

Cathie blinked, looking up. "Oh. Thanks."

"No problem. So, you wanna pack this all up and head back to the tower?"

"Sure." She quickly put her things away, and they went off. She frowned in confusion when he started leading her down stairs instead of up them. "Uh, why are we going in the opposite direction of the tower?"

"There's a secret passage this way," Fred explained.

"Oh, okay." Cathie followed him all the way down to the first floor. As they were passing the hospital wing, he stopped suddenly. "What is it?" she asked.

"I forgot," he commented. "I brought something for you." He pulled a small phial out of his robes. "It's a potion that gives you more energy. You know, so that you have to sleep less. I thought you might like to use this so that you can stay up later to study."

That surprised her. She'd thought he disapproved of her staying up late. "Thanks. You'll have to tell me how to brew this later, it seems really useful." She took the phial from him and drank the purple potion within.

"Actually, Madam Pomfrey gave me that potion."

"She did? Why?"

"Like me, she thought it would help."

"Wait… Madam Pomfrey…." Cathie froze. "Oh, wow, I…. Yeah, I deserve anything that comes of this."

Fred burst into laughter. "Yes, you totally do. I can't believe you actually drank the potion! Maybe this'll teach you a lesson about not getting enough sleep."

"You… son of a…" Before she could finish this thought, she fell asleep.

 

Cathie awoke on a bed in the hospital wing. Fred was lounging on a chair nearby, scribbling on some parchment. "I can't believe you drugged me," she complained. "How many detentions did they give you?"

He started, then looked up, grinning. "Actually, none."

She scowled. "Of all the times to not give you detention…."

They were silent for a while as Fred continued scribbling away and Cathie stared at the ceiling, wondering what she was going to tell her friends about why she had been in the hospital wing for so long. After a while, he commented, "You're not going to tell me why you were doing this, are you?"

"I already did."

"No, you didn't," Fred contradicted forcefully. He put his parchment away and gave her a stern look. Under other circumstances, the expression on the Weasley twin's face might have amused her. "I could believe that you continued getting less than enough sleep and food because you were tired and hungry. That's believable enough. But before you weren't sleeping, before you weren't eating, there had to be a reason why you started, and I refuse to believe that one comment from Elliott is enough to set off someone like you."

Cathie sighed. She did have to tell him, didn't she? She had been hoping she could just move on with her life, but her past would forever haunt her, and if she ever wanted to be truly close to Fred, and Neville, and Daphne, and everyone else, she would have to come clean at some point anyway. "I don't want to set you against your roommate," she hedged hopefully.

Fred raised an eyebrow. "I already don't like Elliott. He's a pompous, pretentious prat. Reminds me a bit of Percy. And Hermione, actually – before she became friends with Ron and Harry."

"I thought you might say that," Cathie groaned. "Alright, so… Cadence and I, believe it or not, used to be friends. Remember how I said our family was barely getting by? It's… well… it's a bit worse than that. We were homeless. I know I shouldn't have lied to you. It's just that I don't like pity – but at the same time, nothing has ever irked me as much as someone thinking me sheltered or naïve, so I told you that half-truth. Anyway, so, we were homeless, and we were living in this really, really rich neighborhood – think the kind of place where Malfoy and his ilk would be living."

Fred shivered. "You were living in a neighborhood full of Malfoy? That's worse than the homeless part." He blinked. "Oh, I mean, um…."

"Don't correct yourself, that's entirely true. In any case, there were a few decent kids around, sort of like Daphne is decent even though she's a Slytherin. Other than that, the rest of us saw our ratty clothes and looked no further. So of course the rotten ones bullied us, and the neutral ones stood back and let it happen, and being so thoroughly outnumbered, the decent ones generally stood back too, although they were kind out of earshot of the others."

"Cadence and I stopped being friendly once our father walked out on us. He accused me of being the reason why. I still can't figure out why that is." She shook her head, bewildered. Anyway, our mother managed to get her company up and running – she's the owner of a pretty big company in America, that's why we're so wealthy now. We moved out of that neighborhood, away from the bad memories, into a more suburban area. There, Cadence decided to make it his life's mission to get 'revenge' by turning as many people as he could against me. Unfortunately, Cadence is, well, he's a Slytherin, which means an excellent liar. He took the truth and omitted things to his benefit, replacing them with lies, and then he subtly revealed the little half-truths one at a time. Even when I'm the one being honest, he's always been more convincing than me. So, from the time I was seven, I had no one. Well, I did have my mother, my sister, my cousin, and my cats – and when I was eight, I had Kaylyn and – " She stopped. That was where Elliott entered the picture.

"Who's Kaylyn?" Fred asked, allowing her a few moments to stall.

"My neighbor," Cathie explained. "Kaylyn Garth – she's Elliott's younger sister. She's a witch, actually, a half-blood. She moved into the neighborhood when I was eight, from Britain, and her family spends a bit of summer vacation in Britain every year with relatives on her father's side. She'll be coming here next year, in fact. Everyone who knows her is a hundred percent convinced that she'll be a Gryffindor – except my mom, who thinks she'll be a Ravenclaw. But she's too impulsive to be a Ravenclaw, so I don't know what my mom's talking about."

After a few more moments, Fred prompted, "So, I assume this is where Elliott comes in?"

Cathie nodded, grimacing. "Yeah, sadly. Actually, we used to be friends. He was friends with Cadence, too, probably one of Cadence's best friends, so that strained the relationship a bit, but he managed to be friends with both of us. And then… well… then he found out some things about my past that I never told him, and even directly lied to him about. My homelessness, for\0one. I didn't see how it was any of his business. Any of anyone's business." She began to feel a bit defensive. She'd lied to Fred, too. And everyone else. "In any case, after that, Elliott became one of the worst bullies in the neighborhood."

Fred looked at her thoughtfully for a while. Then he said, "It wasn't any of his business. Still isn't. If you're worried about any of us being mad at you for something like that, you don't need to be. Besides, it's all in the past, isn't it? No one cares who you were in the past, much less about the things that've happened to you in the past."

They sat in silence for some time. It could have been minutes, or hours, or seconds. Fred continued whatever it was he was doing. Cathie ate the breakfast that had been sitting on a nightstand nearby, then got out her notebook and quill and started writing. Then her head shot up. "Wait – how long was I sleeping?"

Fred looked up, frowning. "Not sure. Not too long, in any case, it's only Wednesday."

"What happened to classes?"

Fred laughed. "Oh, don't worry about those. McGonagall gave you the rest of the week off to deal with 'stress.' Otherwise, I just skipped class today and told the others that I fell down some stairs. They didn't buy it, but they know me well enough to know that they're probably not getting a real reason out of me. And I told McGonagall up front that I wasn't attending classes, and I think she knew why, so she only gave me one detention, probably just for show."

"…So what did you tell everyone else about me?" Cathie asked apprehensively.

Fred laughed. "Nothing, stupid. That's why I skipped class, isn't it? So that I could ask you what you're okay with me telling them."

Cathie blinked. "Oh. Th-Thanks. I… um… I'm really not sure. I think I might want them to know, but at the same time…."

"If you like, I can tell them," Fred offered. "And then threaten them with endless pranking if they bring it up. Wouldn't be the first time I did it. And then followed through."

"It's tempting, but I think I have to decline. This kind of thing wouldn't come out right out of anyone's mouth but mine – I'm just not sure how it can come out right even then, or, indeed, if it can at all, even out of mine."

"You could," Fred proposed, "just tell them the truth some other time, if it bothers you to hide it from them, and tell them something else now. I doubt anyone would truly care."

Cathie grimaced. "I think that might be the way to go. I'd love to tell them – believe it or not, I actually really don't like having to hide things from my friends – but I don't know if I'm quite close enough to anyone to be a hundred percent honest yet."

Fred nodded. "Fair enough. Wanna go back to Gryffindor Tower? Madam Pomfrey told me that you can leave as long as I promise to make sure you stop skipping meals. We might have to tell Hermione something about what happened – Hermione's in charge of making sure you do indeed go to sleep on time, so we can tell her a little half-truth, like, I don't know, you passed out from lack of sleep, and that's why you're going to start sleeping more."

"Yeah, I suppose that works," Cathie allowed reluctantly.

Fred grinned. "Also, you will be spending the rest of the year in the hospital wing and your mom will be hearing about this if you pull something like this again. Madam Pomfrey has agreed that missing lunch once in a while to finish homework or something isn't gonna kill you, and missing a couple of hours of sleep every once in a while for the same reason also isn't that bad, but any more than that – and for any less urgent reason than those – and she'll follow through."

Cathie nodded. "That's to be expected, I guess. Geez, Hermione is never gonna let me hear the end of this…."


	14. The Joke's On You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron gets a suspicious injury, Malfoy spreads a rumor, and Cathie and Neville end up in the Forbidden Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So life is crazy right now. I just became a college freshman earlier this month, and meanwhile the website where assignments are posted can't make up its goddamn mind when the assignments are due so I lost my damn mind the past couple of days over an assignment that's actually due in December. Meanwhile I might be either homeless or in foster care by November. Life's good.
> 
> By the way, this is the penultimate chapter, and just to warn you, the first chapter of the second story might take three weeks rather than two. Depends on how much homework is supposedly due in the next few weeks.

Date: Fri. – Sat., 22-23 May & Fri., 5 June, 1992

Theme Song: Nice Guys Finish Last by Green Day (Doesn't particularly suit the chapter's tone, exactly, but it does suit Cathie's line of thought throughout the chapter)

 

Cathie resolved afterwards that, the day of every test, she would study all the material she would be tested on that morning at breakfast, so as to avoid things like the Transfiguration fiasco. That had probably been a result of stuffing her head full of Herbology info and not getting enough food or sleep. She supposed she was too used to getting a good night's sleep every day nowadays, unlike the days when it used to take her hours to fall asleep.

Hermione had given her possibly the dirtiest look she'd ever received when Cathie told her the news. "I told you so," the bookworm had snapped immediately. "Honestly, Cathie, I don't know how you ever thought that would be a good idea anyway…." Luckily, she had not started giving Cathie the cold shoulder like she had the last time they'd disagreed. Cathie suspected that Hermione liked her a bit more now and that was why.

The others had been informed that Cathie had also fallen down some stairs, and because it was already blaringly obvious to everyone that this was a total lie, they had also told the other that both falling-down-stairs incidents were entirely unrelated. Many facepalms and raised eyebrows occurred.

It was a regular old Thursday when Cathie walked over to the Gryffindor table at breakfast with Neville and Hermione, then headed over to where the third-years were sitting and plopped onto a seat between Lee and Alicia and across from Katie. "Hello," she greeted them. "Fred, George, Ron's picking up some bad habits from you."

"Bad habits?!" Fred gasped, clapping a hand to his chest in mock-horror. "What bad habits could we have possibly taught Ickle Ronniekins? We have nothing but good habits!"

Cathie rolled her eyes as Lee turned to her with a slightly more serious expression. "What are you talking about, anyway?" he asked. "Did he prank someone?"

"No – er, not that I know of, in any case," Cathie amended. "But he's in the hospital wing now because his hand got bitten. By a dog. Because Hagrid's pet Fang is just so dangerous."

The third-years snickered. "So what do you think bit him, then?" Katie questioned.

"No clue," Cathie admitted. "But I've seen dog bites – and that is not a dog bite. Dog bites do not make your hand swell that big, and dog bites do not turn your hand green. I'm not even sure there are normal – I mean, non-magic animals that can do that. I can't believe Madam Pomfrey fell for that."

"She might not have," Angelina reasoned. "But it's not like she can use Veritaserum on him to make him tell the truth, and it's not like she can refuse to heal him."

"George? What's on your mind?" At Alicia's inquiry, Cathie turned to George, who was frowning thoughtfully.

"Nothing," George stated. But Cathie caught him exchanging glances with Fred.

Later on, Cathie and Neville were heading to class when they ran into Malfoy and his goons. "Hey, Longbottom, Cathleen," Cadence jeered. "I heard something interesting about your little friends from Malfoy."

Cathie raised an eyebrow, bracing herself for a very unpleasant exchange. She had learned from last time to prepare to lose her cool and attempt to avoid such an outcome. "Which ones?" she challenged. "I seem to have quite a few nowadays – unlike you, Cadence. You seem to only have three – although Crabbe and Goyle are worth two people each in stupidity, and Malfoy is probably worth an eighth of a person at most in decency."

The two gorillas snarled at her, but otherwise held their tongue. Malfoy smirked at her. "I must be a decent guy," he commented, "for not telling on Potter and his sidekicks."

Cathie raised an eyebrow. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Yeah right – of course you do, you're one of them. Or maybe – maybe they didn't see fit to tell you. Maybe they're not really your friends."

"Well, actually," Cathie tilted her head slightly, "I wasn't really talking about them when I said I had a lot of friends…. I was mostly referring to Neville, Dean, Seamus and Daphne, and most of the third-years in my house…. Hermione's a friend of mine, too, and Harry to a lesser extent, but if Ron has a secret then I don't expect him to share it with me, and I don't expect Hermione and Harry to share one of Ron's secrets with me either."

The four Slytherins were nonplussed by her conversational take on the conversation. "How about I tell you then?" Malfoy sneered, gathering his wits.

"Then you definitely wouldn't be a decent guy," Cathie countered, in the same nonchalant tone. "Decent guys don't usually talk about secrets that aren't theirs."

"You're making this very difficult for me."

"That's the intention."

They stared each other down for a few moments. Cathie had quite forgotten why she was even arguing with him. She didn't want to know what was going on, but she wasn't actively opposed to the idea either. Finally, Malfoy stated, "Hagrid has a dragon, Potter and friends are bringing it to Weasley's brother at midnight on Saturday, see you!" And they trotted off and Cathie and Neville stared, dumbfounded.

"…You don't think he's serious…, do you?" Neville asked hesitantly.

Cathie shook her head, indecisive. "I really don't know," she said. "I mean, on the one hand, Ron's bite could very well be a dragon bite, and I don't know why Malfoy would say that if it wasn't true. But at the same time…, I mean, it's Malfoy. You gotta take everything he says with a grain of salt, you know? He's a Slytherin. There's every chance he has some ulterior motive."

They made their way to Transfiguration, where they did some reviewing, and then they met up with Daphne in the corridors on their way to Gryffindor Tower. "Hey, Daphne!" Neville greeted her enthusiastically. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, you too," Daphne replied. "I was just heading outside to get some fresh air – it's been so nice out lately."

"That's a good idea," Cathie decided. "Mind some company?"

"By all means."

"Let's invite Ninja," Neville suggested.

"Wait, who's Ninja?"

Cathie and Neville exchanged mischievous glances. "A friend of mine," Cathie told Daphne. "She's pretty anti-social – spends most of her time in her dorm. She's very intellectual and introverted."

"I bet the two of you would be good friends," Neville put in. "You're very similar, except for one very minor difference."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "Why do I feel like the two of you are having me on?"

"Nonsense!" they chorused. "I'll go get her," Cathie added. "Meet you in the Entrance Hall." She dashed up to Gryffindor tower, which was mostly empty – it seemed most students were doing exactly what Daphne planned on. She headed up the staircase to the girls' dorm. "Ninja! Want to go outside?" Ninja raised her head from where she lie curled up on Cathie's bed. "It's a really nice day out," Cathie pointed out. "And you haven't been outside much lately, have you? At least not in the daytime – I know you've been sneaking out while I'm sleeping."

Ninja eyed her thoughtfully, then leapt gracefully from the bed and trotted down to the common room. The two of them headed through Hogwarts to join the other two in the Entrance Hall. Daphne immediately glared at Neville. "You compared me to a cat?" she complained. "I like to think I'm a bit smarter than an animal, thanks." Ninja hissed. Daphne blinked, clearly taken aback, as Cathie and Neville snickered. "…That was a coincidence, right?"

"Nope," Cathie contradicted. "Ninja is one of the most intelligent people – er… mammals I've ever known."

"What's a mammal?" Daphne and Neville asked.

Cathie groaned. "Purebloods. Oh, never mind. Let's just go outside, shall we?"

They spent a while lounging in the sun, then took a walk around Hogwarts. Cathie spotted Hagrid's hut, and Malfoy's words returned to her. "Hagrid has a dragon…" Despite her misgivings, she had to wonder, did Hagrid really have a dragon? She didn't know him very well, but from the few encounters she'd had with him, she'd gathered that he was incredibly fond of dangerous animals. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that someone like him might want a dragon, but she had discovered, from reading Magical Moral Perspective, that dragon breeding was illegal, and she doubted Professor Dumbledore would hire someone reckless enough to get a pet dragon – even if he was only the gamekeeper.

They went back inside for dinner after a while, and Ninja made her own way up to Gryffindor Tower while the three first-years went to their respective tables. Harry and Hermione had their heads together and were muttering about something, and again Cathie was forcefully reminded of what Malfoy had been telling them. "…for not telling on Potter and his sidekicks…." They did seem like they were up to something, and Ron's mysterious 'dog bite' did nothing to soothe her worries. Then again, Malfoy could just be making something up. Cathie did her best to ignore her concerns and focus on the conversation her contemporaries were engaging in.

On Saturday, she and Neville were stopped in the hallway on the way to Gryffindor Tower by Malfoy. "Wow, your henchmen aren't around today," she commented sarcastically. "Did they finally ditch you? I suppose even they aren't dumb enough to think you're worth spending time with…."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I just thought you might like for me to, ah, elaborate on what I told you the other day."

Now Cathie rolled her eyes. "Not interested, Malfoy. You're a Slytherin; it's not like I'd believe you anyway."

"You keep telling yourself that, McGinley. Anyway, you might be interested to know that tonight, at midnight, Potter and Granger are bringing Hagrid's dragon to the tallest tower and handing it off to a few of the eldest Weasel's friends. And I plan on catching them in the act. Well, it was nice talking to you!" He trotted off.

Cathie scowled. "What do we do, Cathie?" Neville asked worriedly.

"I don't know." She shook her head, thoroughly irritated by Malfoy. "If he's lying – which he very well could be – we risk getting caught after curfew trying to help for no reason. On the other hand, if he's telling the truth, we end up letting Harry and Hermione get caught."

They were silent, contemplating the best course of action, as they headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Finally, outside the Fat Lady's portrait, Neville said, "How about we go to bed and pretend to be asleep, but actually stay up until midnight to see if they go down to the common room, then meet up downstairs a few minutes later?"

Cathie nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea, Neville. Let's do that."

And so they went inside, and then they went to bed. Cathie was hoping Hermione would forget to check if Cathie was asleep – she'd been very diligent about making sure Cathie got enough sleep, but it had been three months since that incident, and Hermione had begun forgetting every now and then. Lately, it was rarer for Hermione to check than it was for her to forget. Luckily, Hermione slipped into bed as well without bothering, and Cathie beamed beneath her covers.

It was terribly boring, lying in bed for an hour, doing nothing, but Cathie managed to distract herself from the slowly passing seconds by mentally reciting the alphabet backwards, reciting the French alphabet, reciting the French alphabet backwards, and counting to a thousand in French. By the time she was done with that, her watch informed her that midnight was in ten minutes. If Hermione was planning on getting to Hagrid's and then to the tallest tower by midnight, she ought to be leaving soon. Sure enough, as Cathie struggled to recall the properties of wormwood, she heard a bed rustling, and soft footsteps. When she dared to look up, Hermione was gone.

Cathie got out of bed and sat on top of it, ready to leave. Two minutes later, she crept downstairs, where Neville was waiting. She grinned nervously at him. "Ready to go?" she whispered. He nodded, his face pale, and they crept out through the Fat Lady's portrait. "They're probably on their way to Hagrid's. We should go to the Entrance Hall and hope to catch them before they get to the tower."

"Okay," Neville muttered, glancing from side to side anxiously, as if he expected Malfoy to jump out at them at any second with Professor Snape in tow. Really, Cathie wouldn't be surprised. After slapping him and then pranking him, she just might have earned herself a higher place on his hit list than Harry and Hermione, despite the enmity between him and Harry.

Cathie and Neville slowly, quietly, timidly made their way to the Entrance Hall. This was made very difficult by Peeves, who was running around bouncing a tennis ball against walls. Finally, they arrived, and waited there a very long time, getting antsier and antsier as they peered through windows at Hagrid's hut. After a while, Cathie glanced at her watch and grimaced. "It's already midnight," she murmured to Neville. "We must have already missed them. Well, I suppose we ought to head back to Gryffindor Tower."

And so they did, and they were halfway there when Professor McGonagall caught them. "Neville Longbottom and Cathleen McGinley!" she snarled, storming towards them in a tartan robe and a hair net. "Honestly, I've just had to deal with Mister Malfoy, and Filch told me Mister Potter and Miss Granger are waiting in my study, and now I have to deal with you two as well? What is wrong with you students today?! Well, come on, let's go…." She led them down to the first floor. When they entered her study, Harry and Hermione were already sitting there. As soon as they were within earshot, Neville burst out, "Harry, Hermione! I was trying to find you to warn you, Malfoy said he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag – "

Harry shook his head violently, clearly alarmed, and Neville fell silent. Professor McGonagall towered over the four of them, her glare fixed on Harry and Hermione. "I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up on the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

No one made a sound.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's going on. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him." At least one thing had gone right that night. "I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom and McGinley here heard the story and believed it, too? I'm disgusted. Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you three, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detention – yes, you too, Mister Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"Fifty?" Harry gasped.

"Fifty points each," Professor McGonagall snapped, breathing heavily down her long, pointed nose.

"Professor – please – " Hermione whimpered.

"You can't – " Harry pleaded.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Numb, Cathie and the others followed Professor McGonagall back to Gryffindor Tower. Two hundred points. Gryffindor would be in last place now for the House Cup. No one would ever forgive them. Fred, Cathie thought dully. Lee. George. Katie. Dean. Seamus. Angelina. Alicia. Ron. All friends who wouldn't be friends by the time they heard the news.

The four solemn students split up in the common room, and Cathie and Hermione traveled up to the girls' dorm and got into bed. "…I'm sorry you got involved. That wasn't our intention."

Cathie looked up at the sound of Hermione's voice. "Did you really get Malfoy in trouble on purpose?"

"No, no way. Not that I mind, but – there really was a dragon."

She almost laughed. Almost. "That's… You know what, the less I know, the better."

"…Yeah, you're probably right."

Sure enough, the entire school officially hated the four Gryffindors within a week, save for Slytherins, who thanked them at every opportunity. The first thing Cathie had done was to explain everything to Fred, Lee and George, who grudgingly forgave her, admitting that they'd lost far more than fifty points apiece in their first year. And Ron was acting as if nothing had happened (although Cathie suspected he'd had a hand in planning Harry and Hermione's escapade anyway). Otherwise, Cathie, Neville, Hermione and Harry were totally alone. At least Dean wasn't being rude about it.

 

Two weeks later, Cathie received a note at breakfast. It was from Professor McGonagall, telling her to meet Filch in the Entrance Hall at eleven o'clock that night for detention. Looking around, she saw that Neville, Hermione and Harry had also received notes.

That night, they traveled down to the Entrance Hall together, where Filch and Malfoy were already waiting. Filch smiled nastily. "Follow me." He lit a lamp and led them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh? Oh yes..., hard work and pain are the best teachers, if you ask me…. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out… hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed…. Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

Downcast, the six of them trekked through the dark grounds in all their creepy glory. Neville kept sniffling. The lighting was extremely inconsistent due to the persistent clouds, hovering, every now and then, between the gleaming moon and the spooked out students. Cathie spotted lights glowing behind the windows of Hagrid's hut, and then she heard him shout, "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Next to her, Cathie saw Harry's expression change sharply, his eyes sparkling in relief. Filch scowled down at him. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy – it's into the forest you're going, and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Neville whimpered. Malfoy halted abruptly. "The forest?" he repeated shakily. Cathie was pleased to hear his nerves going haywire. "We can't go in there at night – there's all sorts of things in there – werewolves, I heard."

Cathie inhaled sharply, and her head tilted upwards so fast her neck cracked, but to her relief the moon was only partially lit. Irritated, she snapped, "Don't be an idiot, Malfoy, the moon isn't full."

"Werewolves eat people even when they're not wolves!"

"No they don't! That's just propaganda! Only a couple of them do that!"

"What would you know about, Muggle-born?"

"Apparently more than you, Pureblood!"

"That – " Malfoy paused, sounding confused. "That's not an insult."

"Exactly. Neither is Muggle-born."

"Oh yes it is!"

"All righ', enough o' that, you two," Hagrid told them sternly. "We 'ave work ter do."

Cathie blinked in surprise. She hadn't even realized he had arrived. Looking around, she realized that Filch had already left, too.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest."

"Oh, quit being so over-dramatic, we'll be fine. What moron is going to attack us with Hagrid around?" Cathie retorted.

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd – "

" – tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Staying put, Malfoy met Hagrid's gaze challengingly for a few moments, before finally looking away.

"Right then," Hagrid said, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment." He walked over to the edge of the forest, and the students followed, exchanging uneasy glances. Hagrid held his lamp up high and gestured to a narrow, winding earth track that led into the woodland. "Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

Cathie shivered. Malfoy looked up at Hagrid in fear. "And if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?"

"Like Cathie 'ere said, there's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," Hagrid reminded him. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," Malfoy put in immediately. His nervous gaze was fixed upon Fang's long, sharp teeth.

Hagrid shrugged. "All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward." Malfoy grimaced. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Cathie – er – " Hagrid frowned, looking at Draco and Cathie indecisively, most likely thinking about how much they'd argued in the short amount of time he'd been with them. "As a matter o' fact, Draco, Neville, yer with me an' Fang. Cathie, yeh'll be with Harry an' Hermione. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now – that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks an' we'll all come an' find yeh – so, be careful – let's go."

The six of them trudged along the track through the eerily quiet trees, and after a while, they came upon the fork in the path. Hagrid took Neville and Malfoy to the right, and so, shooting anxious looks at Neville's retreating back, Cathie followed Harry and Hermione to the right. They walked in silence for a few moments. Then Harry commented, "Poor Neville, stuck with Malfoy…."

"No kidding," Cathie muttered.

He glanced at her. "I'm really sorry about getting the two of you caught up in all this. I – "

"I know, Harry, I know," she assured him. They continued in silence.

Then Hermione yelped, "Red sparks! Someone shot red sparks!"

Alarmed, Cathie whirled around to see red sparks glittering in the sky. Then, with a gasp of, "Neville!" she lunged to take off through the forest, but Harry grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Wait – we need to take the path," he stated urgently.

"But – "

"You'll just get lost if you try that," Hermione pointed out.

Reluctant, but seeing the sense in that, Cathie backed away from the edge of the thick woods and raced back down the path, quickly followed by the other two. By the time they had reached the fork, they could see Hagrid dragging Malfoy along by the ear as a bright red Neville trailed behind them. "This ruddy idiot thought it'd be funny ter sneak up on Neville an' grab 'im," Hagrid growled. "An' then Neville 'ere panicked an' shot up red sparks. We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups – Hermione, you stay with me an' Neville, Draco, you go with Harry, Cathie an' Fang. I'm sorry," he added in a whisper to Harry and Cathie, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you two, an' we've gotta get this done."

And so, exchanging apprehensive glances, Cathie and Harry began making their way through the forest, Malfoy walking quickly to keep up with them. They did not speak; no one wanted to give another a reason to start a fight and therefore attract unwanted attention. Cathie glanced down at her watch; she had been traveling through the darkness with Harry and Malfoy for almost half-an-hour already. The blood grew thicker and thicker, and she thought they had to reach the unicorn pretty soon. Looking forward, she saw the thick woodland give way to an open clearing. Suddenly, Harry held out an arm to stop her and Malfoy.

"Look," he murmured. She cast her gaze downwards, and inhaled sharply. They had indeed reached the unicorn, but too late; it was already dead.

Her eyes swept over the grim scene, taking in every haunting detail. The slim, shimmering silver legs stretched out awkwardly in various directions, mimicking the actions of a creature in terrible pain. Harry tentatively stepped forward, but before he could move further, the sound of slithering reached Cathie's ears, and he stilled. Her gaze was drawn to the corner of the clearing, where, slowly, a hooded figure crept from behind a bush and approached. "Harry," she muttered sharply, every muscle tense and preparing for takeoff as she reached for his arm, "Harry, we have to go, come on – " But Harry and Malfoy both were rooted to the spot, watching in petrified horror as the figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head to the wound in the unicorn's side, and began to drink its blood.

Malfoy screamed and took off; Cathie lunged for his arm too and shouted, "No – we have to stay together – Harry, come on!" but Malfoy wrenched his arm from his grip and raced away blindly; Harry did not move, even as the figure looked up and stared directly at him. "HARRY!" Cathie pleaded, yanking hard on Harry's arm, and he stumbled backwards into her as the figure drew nearer. Suddenly she felt a rush of air over her head, and something magnificent landed directly before them; a centaur. As it ran at the figure, Harry fell to his knees, his arm sliding from her grip. "H-Harry?" Cathie murmured distractedly. Then she looked down in alarm and knelt beside him. His hand clutched at her arm and squeezed hard, and his eyes were tightly shut, as if in pain. She waited for a few moments, wondering what was ailing him so, as the centaur chased the hooded figure away and then turned to them. Harry finally released her, opened his eyes, and looked up in amazement. Cathie took a closer look, too, as the centaur pulled them to their feet. His hair was a very light shade of blond, and his fur was all golden, save for his mane and tail, which were white.

"Are you alright?" he asked Harry.

"Yes – thank you – what was that?"

Instead of answering the question, the centaur peered intently at Harry's face, particularly, Cathie thought, his scar. "You are the Potter boy," he stated. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time – especially not for you. Can the two of you ride? It will be quicker this way." He sunk onto his forelegs, and Cathie and Harry climbed onto his back as he added, "My name is Firenze."

"I'm Cathie McGinley," Cathie put in.

They were galloping through the forest when the noise of more galloping reached Cathie's ears, and she turned to see two more centaurs charging towards them. They skidded to a halt before the three younger beings, panting heavily as beads of sweat slid down their faces. One had a coat and hair of black, with a roguish air about him. The other had a tamer appearance and reddish brown fur, though his hair, beard and tail were red. "Firenze!" the black-haired one thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on your back – two humans! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" Firenze shot back. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."

"What have you been telling him?" the black-haired one growled. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," the red-haired one put in, his voice deep and dreary.

Frustrated and irritated, the other kicked his hind legs. "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Clearly at his wits' end with the conversation, Firenze reared onto his hind legs. Harry grabbed at his shoulders; Cathie lunged for Harry's shoulders to avoid falling off. "Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at the older centaurs. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must." He whirled around and stormed off, and the two first-years clung tightly to the nearest shoulders.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry questioned. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"

The centaur was silent, except to tell the first-years to keep their heads bowed in case of hanging branches as he gradually slowed to a walk. They were traveling for a very long time as Firenze seemingly ignored Harry's inquiries, but then the centaur abruptly halted in an especially thick patch of trees. "Harry Potter, and Cathie McGinley, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

Cathie and Harry exchanged startled, confused glances. "Er, no, actually," Cathie admitted. "We haven't covered it yet in our Potions class – not sure we will, actually, seeing as we've already done the horn and tail hair…."

"Most likely, they will not, for it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn," Firenze explained. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You will have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Cathie frowned, her eyes wide as she wondered who would consider such a thing worth doing.

Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "But who'd be that desperate? If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Mister Potter, Miss McGinley, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!" Harry gasped. Cathie gave the back of his head a weird look. "Of course – the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who – "

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

Cathie narrowed her eyes, thinking hard, but nobody came to mind. Harry was silent too, until he inhaled sharply and croaked, "Do you mean that was Vol-"

"Harry! Cathie! Are you alright?"

Cathie turned in relief at the sound of Hermione's voice and spotted Hermione and Neville dashing towards them down the path, Hagrid panting a bit as he followed.

"We're fine," Cathie assured her, clambering off of Firenze and hugging her friends. She snuck an intrigued glance at Harry, who was sliding off as well and listening intently as Firenze spoke to him. The Sorcerer's Stone? What's that, and what's it doing in Hogwarts? And what was he about to say?


	15. A Fire in Her Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year ends, but not before Cathie finds out what the Sorcerer's Stone is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Super sorry that this is two days late, but in my defense I'e been having a rough couple of days due to the jackasses as DYFS deciding that my home being a bit messy is grounds to put me in foster care and also just today deciding that since I graduated from homeschool rather than public school they're going to put me in high school and screw the fact that I got 400 points above the average on the SATs and am technically a part-time college freshman. 'Twas fun times. Can't wait to find out how they plan to deal with the fact that I have class Monday and Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 10:55 AM.
> 
> ANYWAY. It's time for the final chapter of Cathleen McGinley: Take a Stand. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this story! This is the end of this story, but its sequel, Cathleen McGinley: This Endless Fight, should be up in about three to four weeks, probably on Monday but possibly on either Sunday or Tuesday. Then the two-week posting schedule will continue. There's a sneak peek at the next story at the end of this chapter. I hope all of you will continue reading the next story, but if not, thanks again for reading this one. See you soon!

Date: Fri. – Sat. & Tue. – Wed., 5-6 & 9-10 June, 1992

Theme Song: Superheroes by The Script

 

 

Cathie basked in the sun, relaxing in the grass with Neville, Fred, Lee, and George. "They're over," Lee sighed blissfully for the fiftieth time since their final exam had ended.

"Yep," Cathie agreed cheerfully. "No more exams!"

"And in a few days, no more school," Fred added joyfully.

"Of course, no more magic, either," George reminded them, a bit saddened.

"No more Malfoy, either," Lee told them all, and much rejoicing was had.

Then Cathie realized something horrible. "Oh, no," she moaned, sitting up straight.

Everyone looked at her oddly. "What is it, Cathie?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Cadence."

"What about him?"

"I live with him."

They all gasped in horror. "Oh, God, I completely forgot!" Fred exclaimed. "That's awful. Living with a Slytherin…." He shuddered. "I can't even imagine it."

"You could just hide on the train until it comes back here," George suggested.

Cathie laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks – I do have family other than Cadence, you know," she pointed out. "Like a mother, and a sister, and a cousin who pretty much lives with us – and my cats."

"Hey, um, mind if I join you for a bit?"

They looked towards the source of the voice to see Daphne standing awkwardly a little ways off. "Uh…." Cathie looked around. Neville didn't mind, of course, but Fred, Lee, and George were a bit iffy.

The three third-years exchanged glances, then shrugged. "You're okay for a Slytherin," Lee mused, "so I guess we don't mind."

Daphne smiled. "Thanks." She took a seat next to Cathie and Neville. "Cathie, I told Cadence that if he gave you trouble over the summer, I would stop helping him in Potions class, so that might make your summer a bit more bearable."

"Thanks!" Cathie beamed. "We're actually moving this summer, too – Mom wants to move to England so that it's easier to get Cadence and me to Hogwarts every year, so all those little friends of his that never, ah, got along with me? They're long gone."

"That's nice." Fred smiled. "You get to have a fresh start without Cadence's interference in whatever neighborhood you settle down in."

"You're planning to move into a Muggle neighborhood, right?" George questioned. "Since your mother and your sister and that cousin of yours are Muggles. Or are you going to live in a wizard neighborhood, since you and Cadence are magic? Not that there really are wizard neighborhoods," he amended, "save for Hogsmeade, but there are mostly-wizard neighborhoods."

Cathie pondered that for a few moments. "We'll probably move into a Muggle neighborhood," she decided. "Otherwise Mom and Danica and Tierney might be a bit isolated wherever we end up. Anyway, what's Hogsmeade?"

"The only place in England where there are absolutely no Muggles living," George explained. "You get to go in third year with parents' permission – not that the three of us waited that long…. Anyway, congratulations on the move."

They chatted for a few moments later until Daphne decided to go hang out with the few decent people she'd met in her own house. A little while later, the conversation had dried up and been replaced with an Exploding Snap mini-tournament to celebrate the end of the school year. Then it was time for dinner. Cathie and Neville sat with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who were still the only amiable ones in their house, save for the Trio of Terror. Seamus, Lavender and Parvati were still giving them the silent treatment, and Angelina and Alicia were polite, but only, Cathie suspected, for their friends' sakes. Dean hadn't totally written them off, although he certainly wasn't happy with them, and Katie had shrugged the whole thing off like Fred, Lee and George had, only she spent most of her time with Angelina and Alicia and therefore decidedly not with Cathie.

Cadence was getting a kick out of the whole thing, of course, as was Malfoy.

 

 

Late that night, Cathie and Neville were sitting in a corner of the room, looking through textbooks to see what they'd gotten wrong on their tests. "I still think I mixed imps and bowtruckles up," Neville worried.

"Which one lives in trees?"

"…Erm… That's bowtruckles, right?"

"Exactly. I'm sure you did fine," Cathie told him patiently, restraining herself from diving into the pile of books and looking up the other two names for aconite.

All of a sudden, Trevor leapt from Neville's robes and threw himself behind the armchair. "Trevor!" Neville cried, his voice a mix between frustration and exasperation. He went behind the armchair and looked around. "I… I don't see him. Where'd he go?"

Frowning, Cathie looked, too. "There! Underneath the chair."

Neville lunged for the irritating toad, and the two first-years rose. Then Neville frowned, looking towards the doorway. "What are you doing?"

Cathie looked over, too, and spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron were hovering together, Harry's cloak out and in his hands. He immediately shoved it behind his back. "Nothing, Neville, nothing."

"You're sneaking out again," Neville realized.

"No, no, no," Hermione hastily put in. "No, we're not. Why don't – "

On a whim, Cathie blurted out, "Is this about the Sorcerer's Stone?"

All three of them stared at her, shocked. "How'd you hear about that?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"I – I heard one of you talking about it." She wasn't going to place the blame on Harry. "About how it's hidden in the castle."

Harry winced; clearly, he remembered his outburst in the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, that's what this is about." Ron opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly cut him off. "No use denying it, Ronald, if she already knows about it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Neville was staring at Cathie, hurt.

Cathie grimaced. "I – sorry, Neville, I didn't really think it was that important."

"Look, you two should just go to bed," Harry urged. "We've got this taken care of."

Cathie scowled. "I'd like to know what 'this' is first."

"We haven't got time to explain – "

"Snape's going to steal the Sorcerer's Stone tonight from the forbidden corridor," Hermione stated bluntly, ignoring the incredulous look Ron shot her.

"What is the Sorcerer's Stone?" Neville asked.

"It's a stone that produces infinite gold and the elixir of life."

Cathie frowned. "Looking at this objectively, is it really that bad for Snape to steal it? I mean, he could do serious stuff to you three if you go after him. Is this stone worth your lives? And – wait a second – what about Professor Dumbledore? He should be able to take care of this, no problem."

"We think Snape's bringing the stone to Voldemort," Harry said gravely. "And Dumbledore's at the Ministry."

"…Now that's pretty serious. So the next question is: Will that cloak of yours – don't bother, I already saw it – hide four of us?"

"…Wait, four? You're coming?" Ron stared in amazement.

"Five," Neville put in, and everyone turned to him. "Don't think you lot are going to go risk your lives and I'm going to sit here twiddling my thumbs."

Cathie smiled. "Five, then. The five of us stand together." Everyone exchanged nervous grins.

Except for Harry, that is, because he had just thought of something. "…I hate to say it, but I actually really don't think this cloak will hide five people. Four, maybe, but not five."

There was a short pause as everyone apprehensively eyed each other, wondering who should stay. Then Cathie decided, "You four take the cloak. I'll go up to the Owlery – someone should let Dumbledore know, even if he isn't here at the moment."

"But – But you'll be caught! Maybe even expelled!" Neville gasped.

"No, she won't," Ron interjected. "She spends too much time with Fred and George."

Cathie grinned. "You bet I have."

"Alright, then, we better get going," Harry pointed out anxiously.

Cathie grimaced as Neville, Harry, Hermione and Ron made to leave. "Good luck," she called softly. Then she went upstairs to grab her backpack. "Ninja!" she whispered. Two green eyes looked at her sleepily from atop her bed. "Ninja, I need your help." Frowning, Ninja leapt off of the bed and followed Cathie downstairs. "Filch – you know Filch?" Ninja nodded. "Excellent. Go get him – fetch – and bringhim to the dungeon. Got it? Filch, fetch, dungeon." Ninja nodded once more, and streaked out the door. Cathie followed at a slower pace.

She crept through the castle, painfully aware that it would be only too easy for anyone to catch her at any given moment. She managed to successfully get outside to the Owlery, and quickly jotted down a letter informing Dumbledore of what was happening. Then she sent one of the school owls off with it.

Back to Gryffindor Tower, right?

Fat chance.

She made her way to the third floor corridor, hoping she wasn't too late (for what, she was trying not to think about). The door was already open, so clearly the quartet had already made their way inside. Peering in, she spotted – oh, joy – a giant, three-headed dog. It was times like these that she missed being a Muggle. How on Earth was she supposed to get past a giant, three-headed dog? Looking around, she spotted a harp on the floor. Maybe music helped…?

Ready to slam the door shut if it didn't work, she sang the first words that came to mind.

"Sleep, my little monster, let your dreams take wing. One day, when you're big and strong, you will be a king."

The dog (dogs?) had noticed her, but weren't paying her much attention. In fact, they seemed to be getting… sleepy.

"I've been exiled, persecuted, left alone with no defense. When I think of what that brute did, I get a little tense."

Their eyes closed slowly – and then, one by one, each head slumped to the floor, having dozed off.

"But I dream a dream so pretty that I don't feel so depressed, 'cause it soothes my inner kitty, and it helps me get some rest."

As quickly and quietly as she could, she snuck into the room and towards the trap door in the center. Luckily, none of the dogs (dog?) were on it, so she was able to creep closer and – and tumble right inside. "Idiot," she berated herself. "You could be dead right now. Thank God for this… this… this plant… that's currently… trying to strangle me. Yep, thank God for that."

Vines were sneaking up her legs and latching onto her. Struggling to remain calm, she tried to remember what it was. She pulled out her wand, hoping to get a good look at what was attempting to kill her. "Lumos!" The wand tip ignited, and the vines immediately retreated, shying away from the bright glow. "Oh – oh, that's right, Devil's Snare." She jabbed her wand at the vines around her, clearing the area. She moved on, heading down a stone passage. She spotted a light at the end of the passage and moved faster, encouraged. Something was moving, too – and she thought she could hear something rustling and clinking.

She finally arrived at the end. "Nox," she whispered, for the chamber was lit well enough on its own. The light from her wand went out. She spotted a wooden door on the other side – but to reach it, she would have to escape from the tiny, shiny birds fluttering about, which would surely swarm her should she enter. She grimaced. "I swear, if they're all fine, I'm going to kick myself…." Steeling herself, she dashed across the room and lunged for the knob. She realized two things at once. A) The birds did not seem to have much interest in her. B) The door was locked. "Alohamora?" she tried hopefully. The door still did not budge.

"Right, so no magic is gonna help here. Let's see…. Birds. Birds are here for a reason. Birds… are shiny? Why are the birds shiny? Oh, they're not birds. Duh. They're… keys. Oh – Oh, crap." Her gaze landed on some broomsticks leaning against a wall. "You can't be serious…." Hoping to see another way out, she looked around the room. She didn't see another option – but she did see a key that was flapping its wings vigorously, hovering a bit below the flock; its wings appeared to be injured.

It was then that she heard a loud crash, and a shriek that sounded suspiciously like Hermione. There was no helping it. Cathie swung a leg over a broom and took off. The stupid bird-key-thing was incredibly evasive, clearly modeled after the infamously evasive Snitch. "Flipendo!" she shouted desperately, pointing her wand at the door, but it remained unaffected. Tense, thoughts of Neville injured or worse flashing, unbidden, through her mind, she put all she had into it, and finally managed to catch the key. She landed as fast as she could and ran for the door, thrusting the key inside and turning it. She released a sigh of relief when she heard a click, and flung the door open. "RON!" she shouted, racing over to where Neville knelt next to their redheaded friend, who was out cold. "What happened?!"

Neville looked up in surprise, his eyes moist. "We had to play wizard chess – we were the pieces – Ron got knocked out by a queen."

Grimacing, Cathie knelt down, too. "Where are Harry and Hermione?"

"They kept moving. I stayed back with Ron. He's got a pulse – at least, I think he does – Hermione!"

Cathie looked up to see Hermione scurrying back. "Only one of us could go forward," she stated by way of explanation, hurriedly kneeling down beside them. "How is he? Is he…?"

"He's – well – alive," Cathie put in.

Hermione did not seem terribly reassured by that. "That doesn't sound good. I don't know any healing spells…."

"Oh!" Cathie opened her backpack and retrieved a potion. "It's Wiggenweld," she explained, at the sight of their confused expressions. "You know, a healing potion."

"Where'd you get that?" Hermione demanded.

"Detention – it's not important. Do I… er… do I just put it on the wound, or what?"

Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure…."

"No, I think you feed it to him," Neville voiced. "I mean, in the story, the prince puts some of it on his lips and then kisses the princess to wake her up, so…." He frowned when they gave him funny looks. "No? Is that not how it goes?"

Cathie shrugged. "Honestly, I've never heard the story."

"Really?"

"Maybe it's a Pureblood thing."

"Oh – yeah, it might be."

"In any case," Hermione interjected, "let's give that potion to Ron, quick."

"Right! Neville, you lift his head, I'll pour the potion down." Neville did so, and Cathie did so, as Hermione watched anxiously. A few moments later, Ron woke up.

It was then that Professor Dumbledore came flying into the room. "Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" And he sprinted across the room and through the door Hermione had come through.

"…Well that was interesting," Cathie commented. "No sense hanging about down here – we might as well get out of here."

Reluctantly, they made their way back to the room with the brooms, and Cathie and Ron grabbed one each (Neville and Hermione much agreed that they would prefer to just ride with another). They arrived at the room with the trap door above them – and spotted three dog heads barking madly at them. "Oh, no," Hermione whispered. "Harry still has the flute – I don't know how we'll get past it – "

"It's alright," Cathie choked out, terrified. "I – I'll just sing again. It worked the first time – but Hermione, you'll have to take the broom and fly me up, because I'll be distracted." Hermione grimaced, but nodded.

"The past I've tried forgetting, and my foes I could forgive. Trouble is, I know it's petty, but I hate to let them live."

The other three gave her the strangest looks she'd ever received – Hermione in particular, who probably also knew that song. Cathie shrugged helplessly, and the four of them mounted their respective brooms.

"So you've found yourself somebody who would chase Snape up a tree. Oh, the battle may be bloody, but that kind of works for me."

The dog was asleep, and so they flew up through the trap door and landed softly on the floor near the door.

"The melody of angry growls…."

Neville crept through. Hermione crept through. Ron crept through. Distracted, Cathie paused in front of the doorway. "Oh. I've forgotten the lyrics."

"CATHIE!" Neville reached for her, but Ron held him back – which she was thankful for, because the teeth were already in her leg and there was really no point in them being in Neville's too.

"Incendio!" Hermione blurted out, her wand pointed at something over Cathie's shoulder, and the fire narrowly missed Cathie's head, instead hitting the dog behind her, which hastily released her leg and backed away, snarling. Before it could lunge again, Neville and Ron grabbed Cathie and dragged her through the door. Hermione slammed it shut.

"What," Neville hissed, pale and shaking, "were you THINKING? Why would you EVER just STOP right in front of a THREE-HEADED DOG?!"

"Neville, shush, you'll wake the whole castle!" Ron said forcefully.

"I've never heard you yell before," Cathie mused absently, falling over.

"Cathie!" Neville jumped forward and caught her. "Cathie, are you alright?"

"Yeah – yeah, sure, I just – my leg hurts…."

"Of – Of course it does!" Neville spluttered. "Hospital wing – you need to go to the hospital wing – "

"Oh!" Hermione reached into Cathie's backpack and pulled out a potion. "This is another Wiggenweld potion, right?"

"…Which one?"

"There's only one, Cathie." Hermione was peering at her, extremely disturbed.

"What? No, there's at least five…. Wait, how do you have so many han-?" And Cathie promptly passed out.

 

 

"…Muggles have some strange music, I'm telling you."

"No, it's not – it was from a musical, Ronald, most Muggle music isn't like that."

"Alright, then Muggles have some weird musicals."

"Oh, for goodness's sake, it's not – all you heard were four lines, you can't judge an entire musical based on four lines."

"So what was the rest of the song?"

"Er…."

"A counterpoint of mournful howls," Cathie mumbled, coming to.

Everyone turned to her. "Oh, so now you remember," Hermione huffed. "Not while your life's in grave danger."

"Wasn't in grave danger," Cathie argued. "I'm fine, aren't I?"

"Yes, except for the venom in your leg, you're bloody brilliant," Daphne huffed, and Cathie turned to the Slytherin.

"Venom?" Cathie echoed in surprise.

"Yes, venom," Fred bit out. "You went and got yourself bitten by a venomous dog."

"Three-headed venomous dog," George corrected.

"Giant three-headed venomous dog," Lee put in.

Cathie shrugged. "Eh."

"Eh?!" The room collectively echoed.

"Eh," Cathie confirmed.

Madam Pomfrey swept inside. "Oh, good, you're awake! Now, you hooligans need to leave. It was all well and good when she was sleeping, but now she's awake, and she needs rest!"

"Wait," Cathie blurted out. "What happened to Harry? Is Harry alright?"

"He'll be fine, dear," Madam Pomfrey assured her.

The students reluctantly trudged out of the room. "Ma'am?" Neville piped up in a small voice. "Um – if I'm really quiet and really calm, can I maybe stay?"

Madam Pomfrey surveyed him with an unreadable expression. "Yes, I suppose," she sighed eventually. "But you be sure that you don't get her worked up, or I'll be sending you on your way!"

Neville nodded solemnly. "Yes, Ma'am."

Madam Pomfrey left, and Cathie turned to Neville. "How long was I out?"

"Don't worry, it's only just past noon – the day after, well, y'know."

"Good. So what happened with Harry, anyway? And – oh! The Sorcerer's Stone – what happened to that?!"

"Calm down," Neville urged. "You'll get me kicked out."

"Right. Sorry. Continue."

"Harry's been out since Professor Dumbledore got him – no one really knows what happened in that last room, although I bet Professor Dumbledore does. And as for the Stone – Professor Dumbledore says that it'll get destroyed, so that it never ends up in the wrong hands. And – get this – it was Quirrell who was trying to get the Stone, not Snape! Can you believe it? And Slytherin's still in the lead, but now that we've sort of helped save the world, people have begun talking to us again. Dean and Seamus and Parvati and Lavender came in, and Katie and Angelina and Alicia did, too, and even Professor McGonagall…."

Cathie smiled listening to Neville softly recounting everything that had happened. He didn't seem to be mad at her anymore, but she didn't think she would have minded if he had been. It was sort of nice to have someone mad at you for things like that.

 

 

Madam Pomfrey was able to get the venom out overnight, and to Cathie's disbelief, she was released the next morning, fully healed. Magic, she suspected, would never cease to amaze her. A few days later, she and the other Gryffindors were headed to the End-of-Year Feast. She and Neville paused in the Entrance Hall; Daphne had asked to meet them there. A few moments later, Daphne broke free from the current of Slytherins and joined them, smiling. "Cathie – I know your birthday's on the thirteenth – Cadence's is, so obviously yours is too – so I figured I'd just give it to you now." She handed a bracelet to Cathie. "It's a friendship bracelet – I have one too – here, Neville, I thought I'd get one for you too, I figured you can just put it on your ankle or something if you're not comfortable with it on your wrist…."

"A friendship bracelet?" Cathie echoed as Neville accepted his bracelet and slipped it onto his wrist, shrugging. She hadn't seen Daphne as the type to have things like friendship bracelets. The color scheme of the bracelets was orange, purple and black – for Halloween, Cathie realized, the day they had truly become friends.

"Yeah – oh, you're a Muggle-born, you might not know about those. They're simple things, really, they're mainly for show, but they do have a couple special functions. They let you know whenever someone wearing a matching bracelet has sent you a letter, so you'll be expecting it from one of the four friends wearing one – up to four people can be wearing matching bracelets. They also function as Portkeys of a sort – you know, Portkeys, objects that are enchanted to teleport you to a set location – see, if you tap the bracelet with your wand and say, "Armillam Unum, Armillam Bium, Armillam Trium, or Armillam Quam, it transports you to the location of the bracelet you selected. Mine is Unum, yours is Bium, and Neville's is Trium. I did get a fourth, just in case we ever decide someone else is worthy of being friends with us." She winked. "I have Quam, so saying Quam, for now, is basically just like saying Unum."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Neville complained. "How come I'm three?"

"Because I'm a Slytherin," Daphne replied, "and Slytherins are infinitely cooler than Gryffindors, everyone knows that. Also, Cathie's more Slytherin than you, so that's why she gets to be two. See you!" She trotted off, rejoining the slowly dwindling number of Slytherins heading for the feast.

"Speaking of which," Neville started, "Daphne told me about your birthday, and I got you something, too. I realized, back in that forbidden corridor, that you must not know any wizarding fairytales, which is why you'd never heard of that prince using Wiggenweld to wake up a princess. So I got you this." He handed her a book. The title read, The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

"Oh," Cathie said dumbly. She stared blankly at the book for a few moments, then looked up, beaming. "Thanks! I, uh, sorry I didn't tell you about my birthday. I just don't like people thinking they have to get me things – I mean, I'm, well, I'm rich."

"It's alright." Neville shrugged as they made their way to the Great Hall. "I know I don't have to get you things, but I want to. Friends get each other things for their birthdays." He smiled at her, and Cathie felt something wonderful bubble up in her as she realized there was not a trace of hesitation or uncertainty in his smile, because he knew that they were friends – and she did, too.

Green and silver was the theme of the Great Hall that night, and Cathie remembered with great remorse that it was because Slytherin had won the House Cup. She and Neville sat down with the other Gryffindor first-years, who were much friendlier now that Cathie and Neville were sort of heroes (although it was certainly more Neville than Cathie, since all Cathie had done was write a letter and do some singing. Neville had apparently been the one to rescue everyone from the Devil's Snare).

Professor Dumbledore entered the hall shortly after that, and took his place at the Head Table. "Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into this delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than before… you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…. Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two." The Slytherin table burst into cheers and applause. "Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account."

The Slytherin table went quiet, and the Slytherins appeared a bit worried about these recent events being taken into account.

"Ahem. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes… First – to Mister Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points." It was Gryffindor table's turn to cheer and applaud; Cathie gave Ron two thumbs-up and a huge beam, happy for him. "Second – to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points." Cathie glimpsed Hermione tearing up a bit and hiding her face in her arms. "Third – to Mister Neville Longbottom, for staying calm under pressure and remembering what he's been taught, I award Gryffindor House fifty points." Cathie turned to Neville and hugged him tight as he went pale and wide-eyed; he'd never won even a single point for Gryffindor before, so that was understandable. "Fourth – to Mister Harry Potter," and the entire room was silent, holding their breath, "for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

Cathie frowned, doing the math in her head, and shouted jubilantly, her voice lost amongst many other jubilant shouts from her table, "We're tied! We're TIED! Slytherin hasn't won!" She stuck her tongue out at Daphne, who was mock-pouting at her and Neville from across the room.

Professor Dumbledore raised his hand, and Cathie wondered what else he could possibly have to award points for. "There are all kinds of courage," he said, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to face deadly dangers, but sometimes, it can take just as much to walk away from it. I therefore award ten points to Miss Cathie McGinley."

The name didn't register until Neville shook her and screamed in her ear, "We won! YOU WON THE CUP FOR US!"

She promptly vanished in quite possibly the largest group hug she'd ever received.

(…Did I really just get points for writing a letter and doing some singing?)

 

 

"Cathie!" Kaylyn ran from her family on Platform 9 & ¾ and hugged Cathie. Cathie had been getting many hugs lately. "It's so good to see you again! Good thing you're in Gryffindor – now we can be in the same house together! Which is excellent, since you're moving here to England now, and we won't be neighbors, but we don't need to worry because we'll be going to Hogwarts together now!"

Cathie had never seen her friend so hyper before.

"Oh, you're moving?" Cathie turned to see Harry, standing a little ways off. He grinned. "You ought to come live on Privet Drive. We can be terrorized by our family together."

Cathie grinned back. "Well, you know what they say – misery loves company."

Harry walked off with Ron and Hermione – and suddenly, Cathie had six upperclassmen and one contemporary swarming her. "Oi, you think you're gonna run off without saying goodbye?" Alicia complained.

Katie and Lee, possibly the tamest of the lot, politely introduced themselves to Cathie's family. George was holding Neville by the collar. "This one was too embarrassed to meet your family," he explained.

"So we kidnapped him, of course," Fred put in.

"Of course," Cathie agreed.

"Hello, Ms. McGinley, we're your daughter's new bodyguards," George informed Cathie's mother.

"Have I already been replaced?" Tierney held a hand to his chest, mock-offended.

"No," Cathie promised. "You're still the dorkiest person I know. No one has stolen your position from you."

"Just making sure." Tierney dropped his hand, laughing.

"So, we've met your family, now you meet ours. It was nice meeting you!" Fred promptly kidnapped Cathie.

"Mum! This is our new little sister," George announced.

A young redheaded girl scowled. "Have I already been replaced?"

"Nah, we've only replaced Ron," Fred reassured her. "Ginny, this is Cathie. Cathie, this is Ginny." The two girls shook hands.

"…So why am I still being kidnapped?" Neville asked.

George frowned. "Oh. I'm actually not sure. But you might as well meet our family anyway – we're your bodyguards too."

"Cathie can come over this summer, right?" Fred inquired, turning to his mother.

She smiled. "Yes, of course – three requests for visitors this summer, we'll be busy…. I'm Mrs. Weasley, dear."

"Nice to meet you."

They chatted for a while, and then Cathie said, "I'd best be going – but I'll see you later this summer, yeah?"

"Definitely," the twins chorused. And then they hugged her.

"I'll see you in September," Neville offered.

Cathie frowned. "Maybe you can ask your Gran if she'll let you come spend time at my house this summer." Neville immediately perked up. And hugged her.

She walked back to her family. "Please, no more hugs. I think I'm all hugged out from the past few days. So, guess what I did last week?"

"Not another troll?" her mother commented dryly.

"Nope. This time it was a giant, venomous, three-headed dog."

"…Remind me why I'm paying for you to attend this school next year."

 

AN: And now for the Book 2 sneak peek! It might not seem like much, but it does summarize the main conflict in the next story well enough, or at least hints at it.

 

"Hey guys," Seamus greeted them, and sure enough, he was sporting a black eye.

"Hello, Seamus," Cathie replied innocently. "So, how'd you get the black eye?"

Dean and Seamus exchanged glances as the three of them climbed inside the carriage. "It was just some Slytherin on the train," Michael explained dismissively.

"Really?" Cathie mused. "I was informed that you picked a fight with the wrong first-year girl."

Seamus flushed, and Dean and Michael snickered. Neville and Daphne glanced at her, surprised. "How'd you find out?" Dean asked, grinning.

"Daphne introduced her to me," Cathie answered, stifling a smirk. "Ran into her on the Hogwarts Express, and she seemed a bit upset."

"Whatever," Seamus muttered, embarrassed. "She's the daughter of a Death Eater."

Daphne tensed immediately. "Livia?" she questioned in a dangerously quiet voice. "Are we talking about Livia Dolohov?"

"Yes," Cathie supplied, surprised. She turned to Seamus. "Death Eaters – aren't they the people who supported You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah, they are," Seamus confirmed, and he glared challengingly at Daphne. "So what if I am talking about Dolohov?"

Daphne's expression grew murderous. "You have no idea who she is, Finnigan, so don't pretend to."

UPDATE: 12/07/15

I swear I have a good explanation for why I haven't updated yet. You can find it on my profile.


	16. NEW STORY!

First off: The next story has FINALLY been posted. You can find it by going to my profile, of course, or you can just go to the next story in this series, which is obviously CM: Book 2

Second: I am SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO sorry it's taken so long to post this! This drove me so crazy I even DREAMT about posting the next story sometimes! I have a good excuse this time, I swear - someone stole my laptop, and I don't really have an extra laptop that I can use. I'm borrowing a friend's right now. Luckily I'm paranoid and kept most of my files on Google Docs, a USB, and two laptops, so between all that I ended up with all the chapters I'd already written still intact. I reiterate this in the AN in the story but I would never post a story I wasn't 100% sure I was going to finish. I've spent months mourning unfinished stories before and usually can only feel satisfied with my life again until I've written the ending myself and done it justice or have spent an appropriately long time mourning it. It almost always ends up being the last one because the ending just never flows right with the rest of the story when I read it in order. So rest assured that I am definitely going to finish this story. I've spent over a year working on this story and as my mother and sister can attest I am way too invested in and attached to my plots and all the twists and turns to give up on writing them. I will finish this story if it's the last thing I do!


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